A new merged NHS trust could base itself at a new headquarters not used by its predecessor organisations.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was formed at the start of October.

The merger brought together services previously delivered by Solent NHS Trust, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust and Isle of Wight NHS Trust.

It has also taken on child and adolescent mental health services that were provided in Hampshire by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

The new entity has more than 30 ‘main’ sites listed on its website, including community hospitals, mental health inpatient units and health centres.

Members of Southampton City Council’s health overview and scrutiny panel heard that Solent’s headquarters at HighPoint Venue in Bursledon Road, Thornhill, and Southern’s base at Tatchbury Mount in Calmore were being used by the new organisation.

However, a long-term central home for the merged trust was still to be decided.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare chief quality and engagement officer Dr Lesley Stevens told councillors: “Highpoint is still used in much the way it was before.

“We are just working through this organisational change process that will bring together different corporate services into one as we are doing the same across clinical services.

“We are still using both Tatchbury and Highpoint as headquarters.

“I think our preference would be to have one place that was in neither of those locations but we are working that through.

“There are no decisions made about it and we are making as good use as we can of the existing provision.”

The new trust, which was in development for several years, services around two million people, with a workforce of more than 13,000 people and annual funding of £800million.

Dr Stevens said the two major goals were to be a learning organisation that raises standards and to deliver care as close to people’s homes as possible at a neighbour level.

She said: “For Southampton, the obvious benefit of this new organisation is that up until October 1 physical health community services were delivered by Solent and mental health services by Southern and now they are all delivered by one organisation.

“That gives us that real opportunity for that internal integration where we can be wrapping physical and mental health services around the needs of individuals.”

The merged trust has seven ‘divisions’ four of which are geographical and three that are organisational.

Councillors were told there would be a focus on collaboration and integrated working.

Dr Stevens added: “One of the things that we’re really conscious of is simply reorganising services does not in itself mean that anything is different.

“The thing that makes it different is a change in the culture and for us, the real focus is on a culture that is about learning, it is about putting the voice of people with lived experience at the heart of everything that we do, clinical services, all decisions, right the way through the organisation.”