A MUCH-needed cash boost to fund the reorganisation of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust has been confirmed.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and NHS England boss Simon Stevens have confirmed £29m of investment into the trust, which runs Kidderminster Hospital, Worcestershire Royal, and Redditch's Alexandra Hospital, as part of £325m for local projects that will help the NHS to modernise and transform care for patients.

It is hoped patients will see this investment deliver faster diagnosis for conditions like cancer, easier access to mental health care, expansion of A&Es, shorter waits for operations, and more services in GPs surgeries.

Last week the Shuttle reported that the three county clinical commissioning groups, which hold the purse string of NHS care, unanimously approved a new clinical model at a meeting.

Thousands had objected to the proposals in the consultation period, including a particularly controversial plan to move all hospital births from the Alex in Redditch to Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

All the governing bodies representatives approved the plan, but it still required £29 million of government funding to implement.

The Department of Health has now confirmed that this money will be made available which, after a final rubber stamping internally in the NHS, will then allow the reorganisation to go ahead.