12.09.12
‘Contingency team’ sent in to overhaul Mid Staffs
Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust needs a financial and management rescue package and could be completely restructured or even put in special administration.
Clinical care has improved at the hospital trust, but on its current trajectory it does not have a sustainable future, so a team of financial advisors, accountants, and administrative and legal services firms is being sent in.
The public inquiry into the role of regulators in the lead-up to the critical 2009 report into excess deaths and poor care at the trust will report later this year. The A&E unit is also temporarily shut at night, and earlier this month an NHS report criticised the standard of breast cancer care at the trust, calling it “deeply dysfunctional”.
Dr David Bennett, chair and interim chief executive of Monitor, said: “We have been working closely with Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust to improve its performance.
“It has made significant improvements in the clinical care provided for patients, but we need to make sure these services can be secured in the long-term.
“It is therefore time for us as the sector regulator to step in and look for a solution that ensures services are provided for local patients on a sustainable basis.
“We have an open mind about the form that solution might take, but it should be the best one for patients in the long term.”
Trust chief executive Lyn Hill-Tout welcomed Monitor’s involvement and added: “Reviews of the trust over the last few years and the changes to the way healthcare has begun to be provided nationally have led to a growing feeling of uncertainty about the future of the two hospitals.
“We welcome Monitor working with our commissioners so that clear decisions are taken which ensure that the healthcare needs of local people are met in a truly sustainable way. We will of course give Monitor every support and will cooperate fully with their review team.”
The Care Quality Commission says that clinically, essential standards are being met, but the Department of Health has concerns about its financial challenges.
From April next year, Monitor will have more power over foundation trusts to implement emergency measures to safeguard patient care, as happened to the non-FT South London Healthcare earlier this year.
The contingency planning team is being sent in at Mid Staffs before those powers come into formal effect based on an agreement between Monitor, the DH, the NHS Commissioning Board, the NHS Trust Development Authority, and the SHA.
The team’s report into long-term sustainability at the trust will be delivered to Monitor next year.
Tell us what you think – have your say below or email us directly at [email protected]