Two health trusts which cover Norfolk and Waveney are to share one chief executive as they gear up for a massive reorganisation.

NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney and NHS Norfolk are to form a primary care trust (PCT) cluster under the leadership of a single chief executive and executive team.

It is not yet known how many redundancies the move will create, but yesterday the man who will be leading the new team admitted it is 'unlikely' that it would need all of the existing staff. Each PCT will remain as a statutory body and keep its own board. The chief executive of NHS Norfolk, Andrew Morgan, will become chief executive of both PCTs. He will be required to put in place a single team of executive directors over the coming months.

Andrew Morgan said: 'One single executive team will mean it is unlikely that we would require the current number of executive posts which exist within both organisations.'

The unanimous decision has been agreed by NHS East of England after consultation with the PCTs and the new emerging GP consortia in the two counties.

David Edwards, chairman at NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney, said: 'Clustering our two PCTs together is part of the local NHS preparing for the future. A single leader opens the way for the two PCTs to share skills and resources without the disruptive effects of a full-scale merger.'

Sheila Childerhouse, chairman of NHS Norfolk, said: 'Our two primary care trusts have worked very closely for a number of years, there are joint working arrangements already in a number of areas.'