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Trust told to make urgent improvements in its management of A&E services

Monitor has taken regulatory action at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust to improve performance within the A&E department for the benefit of patients.

The regulator has found the Trust in significant breach of its terms of authorisation due to successive failure to meet its A&E healthcare target for four out of the last six financial quarters.

The Trust’s failure to make sufficient progress in addressing the issues has also led to concerns that there are weaknesses in the Board’s governance processes.

Stephen Hay, Managing Director for Provider Regulation at Monitor said:

"Our priority is that patients in the Stockport area receive quality services and we are very concerned that the Trust has not managed to deal with its failure to meet the A&E target.

"We have taken action to make sure the Trust takes immediate steps to improve its A&E performance and addresses underlying governance problems, so any future issues can be dealt with quickly and effectively."

Monitor has asked the Trust to ensure there is an overarching action plan in place covering all urgent care projects. This plan should include the unscheduled care transformation programme, with defined timescales for improvements and the Trust will need to report regularly to Monitor on its progress against these milestones.

The Trust has also been asked to ensure it has the necessary capacity and capability in its executive and operational teams to deliver the plan, taking on additional resources for this if necessary.

Notes to editors

  • For media enquiries please contact Emma Shepherd on 020 7340 2438.
  • A copy of Monitor’s decision to find the Trust in significant breach is available here.
  • The Trust missed the target to treat 95% of all patients attending A&E within four hours in four out of the last six quarters.
  • More information about how Monitor regulates foundation trusts is available here.
  • Monitor was established in January 2004. Monitor’s functions and powers are set out in the 2012 Health and Social Care Act.
  • Monitor is now on Twitter - follow us @MonitorUpdate

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