Hands off our name -- that's the message from Oxford's Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre to a private healthcare group which which wants to use the Nuffield title for its new hospital.

NHS managers have attacked plans by The Acland Hospital, in Banbury Road, to call their development at the Manor Ground site, in London Road, Headington, the Nuffield Hospital Oxford.

The Nuffield Hospitals group, which owns both private units, told the Oxford Mail it would not reconsider the name despite objections by the NOC, which is situated in Windmill Road -- about a mile away from the new hospital.

Ed Macalister-Smith, chief executive of the NHS trust, said the Nuffield name had special significance in the city, and was part of the hospital's history.

He said: "We have challenged Nuffield Hospitals about the name, and have entered into correspondence with them about a more appropriate name.

"Obviously, our name is an important part of our heritage here and we will need to think very hard about any challenge to it, and any further formal action we might take."

He said Oxford had strong links with the Nuffield name because it was home to millionaire benefactor and car manufacturer William Morris, who took the title Lord Nuffield in 1938.

He gave £70,000 to the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in 1930 and funded a number of Oxford University research posts, including the Nuffield Chair of Surgery.

The Nuffield Hospitals Group was set up as a registered charity in 1957. None of its staff was able to explain how it got its name.

Mel Maclean, business development manager at The Acland Hospital, said: "The confusion in Oxford with the name Nuffield is recognised."

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