Norfolk's only outstanding NHS trust has announced plans which may eventually see it completely merge with a neighbouring trust.

Norfolk Community and Health Care NHS Trust has agreed to form a group with Cambridgeshire Community Services, which provides the same services across the border.

The two organisations that provide health services in the community, such as palliative care, rehabilitation, and occupational therapy, are set to share a leadership team as part of the move.

Bosses say the shared approach will provide savings of up to £5.5m - and may eventually lead to the two trusts being replaced with one single organisation.

The two trusts already currently share a chief executive, Matthew Winn, who took over as NCH&C chief on an interim basis in September 2023, a role which has become permanent.

He said: "This is an exciting opportunity to make things better for our patients and our staff, while making our services stronger and more resilient.

"We already have so much in common, including our values and services that provide great care and support to people so they can lead their best and healthiest lives. But we can do even more together."

Patricia Hewitt, chairman of NHS Norfolk and Waveney, said: "Bringing these two excellent organisations together to share expertise and resources will make services better for local residents.

"It will mean we can maximise the funding available to provide more care in the community and in people's homes - and this change will help to ensure that both organisations are well-placed to enable us to do this in the years ahead."

The trust is currently the only NHS organisation in the county to be rated as outstanding by the Care Quality Commission, with its Cambridgeshire counterpart sharing this distinction.

It is the biggest NHS trust reorganisation in the region since the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust was formed in 2012 - from a merger between the Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust.