HEALTH SECRETARY
ANNOUNCES NEW MEASURES TO TACKLE SERIOUS FAILURES IN NHS FOUNDATION TRUSTS
Learning from the
failings identified at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust,
Health Secretary Andy Burnham today announced a package of
measures to tackle exceptional failures in Foundation Trusts.
As part of that package, the Health Secretary has set up a
further, independent, inquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC to hear
evidence from patients and families – building on the reports to
date and the Independent Clinical Reviews underway - and identify
lessons for the future.
Relevant staff at the Trust, including
former managers, will be asked to give evidence to the inquiry and
we expect both current and former NHS staff to co-operate. If the
Chair considers that it is necessary to have the power to require
witnesses to attend, the Secretary of State has the power to
convert this into an inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005.
The other measures in the package include:
Working closely with Monitor to appoint a new Chair, Sir Stephen
Moss and new Chief Executive Antony Sumara who have the skills and
experience to transform services at Stafford Hospital as a matter
of urgency;
· Asking Dr David Colin-Thome to support and advise the Primary
Care Trust to ensure they are implementing all the recommendations
from his report and working with the local community to shape the
future of the Trust; and
· Consulting on changes that will enable Monitor, the foundation
trust regulator, to ‘de-authorise’ a foundation trust where the
trust is failing to meet the high standards rightly expected of an
organisation afforded FT status.
These measures help to address concerns arising from the Care
Quality Commission’s three-month stock take report on Mid
Staffordshire Foundation Trust, also published today.
Visiting the hospital today along with health minister Mike
O’Brien, Andy Burnham said:
“Our overriding priority is to ensure that patients and the
public have access to high quality healthcare at Stafford
Hospital. The new leadership team are key to building on the
progress made and driving forward further, faster improvements.
“The hospital and Primary Care Trust must listen to patients and
local people and involve them in shaping the future of the
hospital. This new independent inquiry will give patients and
their families the opportunity to present their evidence and
ensure that any other lessons are learned without unduly
distracting the new management and staff at the hospital from
improving services for patients today.
“Together these measures will help the hospital improve more
quickly and ensure that patients and people in Stafford can have
confidence in their local hospital.”
In a proposed change to the law, which will be consulted on over
the summer, the Secretary of State will be able to ask Monitor to
remove foundation trust status from a hospital where it has failed
and where this is in the best interests of patients and the
public. In these circumstances, if Monitor disagrees with the
approach suggested by Ministers, Monitor will be obliged to
justify this position publicly.
Andy Burnham added:
“The overwhelming majority of foundation trust hospitals are high
performing, providing patients with the highest quality of care.
But their status must always be seen as a privilege and not a
one-way ticket. Foundation trusts should not retain their freedoms
where they are clearly failing their patients and where a loss of
public confidence has occurred.
“In the rare circumstances where this is not the case, I want to
ensure we have the powers necessary to take robust action to
protect patients and the public. The failings at Mid Staffordshire
Foundation Trust exposed a need for changes to the current
regulations and the powers I am proposing will ensure that we can
intervene in such cases.
“These changes strike the right balance between ensuring
fundamental failure is addressed, maintaining the highest
standards and protecting the significant benefits of Foundation
Trusts.”
A consultation on the proposed amendments to foundation trust
legislation will be published in the next few days.
Notes to Editors
The package of measures was set out in a Written Ministerial
Statement to Parliament today. The WMS can be found at
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_098660The
terms of reference of the inquiry will be: To investigate any
individual case relating to the care provided by Mid Staffordshire
NHS Foundation Trust between 2005 and 2008 that, in its opinion,
causes concern and to the extent that it considers appropriate; In
the light of such investigation, to consider whether any
additional lessons are to be learned beyond those identified by
the inquiries conducted by the Healthcare Commission, Professor
Alberti and Dr Colin-Thome; and, if so, To consider what
additional action is necessary for the new hospital management to
ensure the Trust is delivering a sustainably good service to its
local population. To ensure the new management and staff at the
hospital are not unduly distracted from delivering the
improvements already identified as necessary, the Inquiry is to
report to the Secretary of State by the end of 2009. The Chair
will decide the precise details of how the inquiry will be
conducted. The Care Quality Commission’s three month stock take
follows the Healthcare Commission’s report on 17 March 09 on their
investigation into Mid Staffordshire FT. These reports can be
found at www.cqc.org.ukIn response to the Healthcare Commission’s
report into the emergency care provided by the Mid Staffordshire
NHS Foundation Trust between 2005 and 2008, the then Secretary of
State commissioned two reviews
· Professor Sir George Alberti looked at the hospital’s
procedures for emergency admissions and treatment and its progress
against the recommendations in the Healthcare Commission’s report.
· Dr David Colin-Thome (National Clinical Director for Primary
Care) looked into how the commissioning and performance management
system failed to expose what was happening in the hospital.
For further information contact the Department of Health press
office on: 0207 210 5221.
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk