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NHS Confederation - NHS Partners Network comment on NAO report on the franchising of Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust
Responding to the National Audit Office (NAO) report; The franchising of Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust, David Worskett, director of the NHS Partners Network, said:
"We fully understand and support the need for the NAO to scrutinise the set up and progress of new franchises in the NHS. However, addressing Hinchingbrooke's financial difficulties and improving quality of care for the benefit of patients and the NHS was never going to be a short-term task and to try and draw conclusions about the approach Circle has taken at such an early stage is unrealistic.
"By focussing initially on clinical quality, patient care and staff morale Circle are building the only possible platform from which to address the deep and long-running financial challenges the trust faces.
"It is also important to be cautious over the idea of a standardised approach to franchising of this type. Every set of circumstances, and the reconfigurations needed, will be different. The NHS has too often been seduced by a “one size fits all” approach, to the detriment of patient and taxpayer interests.”
Notes to Editors
NHS Partners Network is an alliance of independent – both commercial and not-for-profit healthcare providers commissioned by the NHS to provide primary & community, elective and diagnostic care to NHS patients free at the point of delivery. It was established in 2005 and became part of the NHS Confederation in June 2007.
The NHS Confederation represents all organisations that commission and provide NHS services. It is the only membership body to bring together and speak on behalf of the whole of the NHS. We help the NHS to guarantee high standards of care for patients and best value for taxpayers by representing our members and working together with our health and social care partners.
We make sense of the whole health system, influence health policy and deliver industry-wide support functions for the NHS.
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A full list of NHS Confederation press releases and statements can be accessed on our media page
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Contacts
Francesca Reville
020 7799 8633
Francesca.Reville@nhsconfed.org
Georgie Agass
020 7799 8637
Georgie.Agass@nhsconfed.org
