Trust asks for one-off emergency loan from the Department of Health to help it deal with ‘unprecedented pressure’ on its finances, plus the rest of today’s news and comment
Round-up
List that reveals which trusts are unlikely to have a future as independent organisations will be kept secret until the summer
GMC to review decision in Dame Barbara Hakin investigation
140 doctors write to The Guardian accusing the coalition of broken promises and funding cuts
West Middlesex University Hospital Trust told to improve after CQC finds staff shortage
5.20pm West Middlesex University Hospital Trust has been told to improve by the Care Quality Commission.
Accident and emergency, surgery, children and young people services, end of life care, outpatients and diagnostic imaging were all rated as “requires improvement”.
However, medical care, critical care, maternity and gynaecology services were all found to be “good”.
The NHS Trust Development Authority has confirmed to HSJ it will not publish a list of the categories it has given to the 90 organisations it oversees until the summer.
These indicate which of the trusts – many of which are struggling to provide good care and balance their books – are expected to have to be acquired by another provider or managed via a management contract or franchise. For those which are expected to be able to achieve foundation status, it indicates how quickly this is predicted to be achieved.
The trust, which came out of special measures last July, has forecast an £18m year end deficit for 2014-15.
In agreement with Monitor, the trust will draw up a short term cost improvement plan to address some of its financial problems.
12.35pm Here’s a lunchtime round-up of the important stories of the day:
- The national media is concerning itself with A&E performance, which is at its worst in a decade. The Times reports that 440,000 patients waited over four hours to be seen so far this year.
- Chief executive of special measures trust Sherwood Forest Hospitals FT, Paul O’Connor, has resigned.
- 140 doctors have written to The Guardian accusing the coalition of broken promises, funding cuts and destructive legislation.
10.50am The Daily Mail reports that health secretary Jeremy Hunt has promised to give NHS chiefs “whatever they need” after the election.
Mr Hunt yesterday claimed a Conservative government would find whatever money the health service said was required to cope with the grwoing pressure on hospitals and GP surgeries.
10.30am The Telegraph reports that the number of children aged 10 or under who have been referred to the NHS because of transgender feelings has more than quadrupled in five years, according to new figures.
The Tavistock and Portman Foundation Trust said referrals over the period included 47 children aged five or under, and two children just three years old.
The trust, Britain’s only centre specialising in gender issues in under-18s said that the number of under-11s referred to the unit had risen from 19 in 2009-10 to 77 in 2014-15.
10.25am The Times reports that the head of NHS screening has ruled out the routine use of “awful” dementia tests for healthy people.
Anne Mackie said mass checks for conditions often did more harm than good as more people are put through needless surgery or radiotherapy.
She said it was impossible to to expand screening to dementia because memory tests are so inaccurate that calling people without symptoms for checks would result in two thirds of diagnoses being given to healthy people.
10.15am The Guardian reports that leading NHS doctors have accused the coalition of a catalogue of broken promises, funding cuts and destructive legislation which has left the health service weaker than ever before in its history.
In a letter to the paper more than 140 senior doctors pass a damning judgement on the government’s stewardship of the NHS.
“As medical and public health professionals our primary concern is for all patients. We invite voters to consider how the NHS has fared over the last five years, and to use their vote to ensure that the NHS in England is reinstated,” they write.
7.00am The next government has been urged to treat patient incidents caused by avoidable shortages in prescription medicines as ‘never events’ by a group of MPs.
Never events are defined as serious incidents that are wholly preventable and represent a failure by providers of NHS care to follow NHS England guidance.
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