Foundation Trust Network
Overnight discharge data questioned as hospitals hit back
Misleading data has emerged as a possible explanation for claims that hospitals discharge large numbers of patients in the middle of the night.
Trusts needing bailout support almost double in 2011-12
Thirty-one trusts received bailout payments in 2011-12, information released to HSJ under the Freedom of Information Act reveals.
Health economies rush to pilot year-of-care tariff
More than 90 sets of providers and commissioners have shown interest in becoming one of the six trial sites for year-of-care tariff trials, HSJ has learned.
Monitor tightens efficiency targets for acute trusts
Monitor has issued a bleak assessment of the efficiency savings acute trusts must prepare to make over the next three years.
Acute trusts absent from local wellbeing boards
Emerging health and wellbeing boards believe they will successfully shape local health policies and drive service integration. But many boards still lack input from NHS providers, a survey shared exclusively with HSJ reveals.
Larger trusts warn over C difficile rules
New Monitor rules on C difficile infections could still mean foundation trusts are downgraded by the regulator for relatively small outbreaks, HSJ has been told.
Foundation trusts cannot use bailouts to hide financial failings, regulator warns
Monitor has warned foundation trusts it may disregard bailout payments when assessing their financial health, in a move which could allow earlier regulatory intervention in troubled organisations.
Exclusive: property company expected to cover costs by raising rents
The new NHS property company is set to take over a core portfolio worth at least £1.7bn, HSJ can disclose.
Monitor: governors should step in earlier to address problems
Monitor’s chief operating officer has told foundation trust governors they should step in earlier if there are quality problems at their trust.
FTN fails to appoint new chief executive after second batch of interviews
The Foundation Trust Network has failed to appoint a new chief executive after interviewing a second group of candidates earlier this month.
National NHS surplus rises by £329m
The NHS is on course to finish the year with a surplus of more than £1.5bn - £300m more than originally planned - HSJ can reveal.
DH: hospitals must be fined for readmissions caused by others
Hospitals will be fined for emergency readmissions in 2012-13 even if they can prove that they are not responsible for them, according to rules published by the Department of Health this afternoon.
Exclusive: community trusts dispute asset transfers with PCTs and DH
Plans to transfer NHS properties to community service providers have stalled amid an ongoing dispute between trusts and the Department of Health, and claims of irrational behaviour by commissioners.
Inconsistent CQC inspections leave trusts facing action on 'minor issues'
Inconsistent judgements by Care Quality Commission inspectors worried about “covering their backs” are leaving trusts facing action over issues as minor as a broken microwave, HSJ has been told.
Nicholson: electoral cycle means we have to do service changes in next 18 months
Sir David Nicholson has said the “electoral cycle” means NHS managers were “much more likely to get through” service changes in the next 18 months than later in the parliament.
Operating framework piles pressure on hospital sector
The NHS’s financial plans for 2012-13 will further concentrate pressure on acute providers and could force a wave of hasty mergers, experts have warned.
Most commissioners see readmissions rate rise despite harsh penalties
Most commissioners have seen an increase in emergency readmission rates despite the imposition of new penalties that are set to cost providers more than £400m this year, an HSJ investigation has found.
FTN fails to appoint new chief executive
Sue Slipman has agreed to stay on as Foundation Trust Network chief executive until the organisation finds a new full-time replacement.
Monitor examines FTs' patient guarantees loophole
Monitor has revealed it is examining a potential loophole that could allow foundation trusts to escape the patient guarantees laid out in the NHS constitution.
Exclusive: trusts demand £350m to get through FT pipeline
Hospital trusts have asked for over £300m in loans by April 2012 to remain within the foundation trust pipeline, HSJ can reveal.
More on the Foundation Trust Network
Noel Plumridge: the hidden cost of foundation status
“Working capital arrangement” can be a £20m trap.
Why trust procurement needs price comparison to be efficient
Barriers to comparative price information in the NHS make good judgement on procurement difficult for purchasers. The benefits outlined in a recent Foundation Trust Network pilot shows why this information needs to be easier to obtain, says Sue Slipman.
'A new procurement model could fall foul of inertia'
Despite talk of opening up NHS procurement, the same old system looks unlikely to be phased out just yet, writes Noel Plumridge.
Transparency is central to the new NHS, and foundation trusts should not be exempt
There are few things that most foundation trust governors vehemently agree on but holding open board meetings is one of them. Sharon Carr-Brown explains why.
Sue Slipman: public board meetings are not a quick fix for accountability
With transparency and accountability increasingly on the agenda for trusts, Foundation Trust Network chief executive Sue Slipman argues that holding board meetings in public as a means to that end is not simply an open and shut case.
Progress in the community: how TCS has helped community providers
With the Transforming Community Services transfers largely complete, attention turns to realising the benefits this sector of the NHS can now bring. Dr Kate Fallon looks at the progress that has been made.
