05.11.14
Monitor launches investigation of Taunton and Somerset FT
Monitor has launched an investigation of Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust after reports that patients were waiting too long to get treatment.
For the past year the trust, which runs Musgrove Park Hospital, has missed the 18-week national referral-to-treatment target for day-case or inpatient procedures at the trust.
The trust has also missed the target for treating patients who are referred to hospital for an outpatient procedure over the last nine months.
Monitor said that the trust identified that some patients are waiting too long for these procedures but failed to deliver its own recovery plans to get waiting times back to an acceptable level.
Paul Streat, regional director at Monitor, said: “Too many patients aren’t being treated within a reasonable amount of time at Taunton and Somerset, and we need to find out what the problem is and how we can support the trust in its current efforts to cut waiting times.
“We are investigating the trust to find out why it isn’t meeting these targets, and if we need to take further action to make sure local patients aren’t waiting too long.”
A spokesman for Musgrove Park Hospital said they welcomed Monitor’s intervention and would be working with them to “fully understand” the problem and seek a solution.
“This support will hopefully enable us to ensure our plans to meet the target are realistic by engaging the whole healthcare community in this process and to unpick the issues that have contributed to this problem.”
The spokesman said that Musgrove Park Hospital, along with many others, had seen a real surge in demand for treatment in a few very specific areas in a very short period of time.
He added: “This has meant that we haven’t been able to respond quickly enough, and be flexible in the way we can provide appointments, to meet these surges in demand. This, in part, has led to a backlog in patients waiting to be treated.”
He said that given the size of the backlog, last month the trust board decided to see and treat patients in order of clinical priority rather than waiting time.
“Since that decision the Trust has worked hard to implement a number of solutions to try and treat those patients waiting longer than they should,” he said.
“However, there have been a number of issues which have meant that we have not progressed as we would like to have.”
No decision has yet been made by Monitor on whether further action will be needed. The regulator will announce the outcome of the investigation once it is completed.
(Image: Musgrove Park Hospital c. Nick Chipchase)
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