Foundation Trusts
Flory to lead NHS Trust Development Authority
NHS deputy chief executive David Flory is to become the first head of the body charged with creating an all-foundation-trust provider sector.
Fears over 'destabilising' C difficile fines to be investigated
The possibility that fines for C difficile infections will have a “destabilising” effect on some hospitals next year is to be investigated by the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Hinchingbrooke plans set out by new owners
The private provider at the first NHS hospital to be taken over by a private sector firm have set out their vision to turn around its fortunes.
Private patient income continues to fall
The NHS’s real terms income from treating private patients declined in 2010 for the fifth year, according to market analysts Laing and Buisson.
GMC moves on 'gagging clauses' in pay-off deals
Trusts and clinicians have been prohibited from writing or signing “gagging clauses” that could prevent whistleblowing.
Monitor could advise commissioners on reconfiguration to combat financial difficulties
Monitor is considering changes to its regulatory strategy as it believes some foundation trusts may face financial problems so profound they cannot be fixed by the providers alone.
Two more hospital trusts placed in significant breach by Monitor
Two more foundations trusts have been placed in significant breach of their terms of authorisation, taking the total to 15 of the 78 acute trusts regulated by Monitor.
Trusts facing 'difficult choice' over service provision
NHS trusts face “difficult choices about the services they provide” as they fight to sustain savings programmes of 5 per cent a year, according to a report by Monitor and the Audit Commission.
Labour: NHS patients will face 'worse deal'
NHS patients will get a “much worse deal” if the government’s health service reforms see NHS hospitals free to earn up to half of their income from private work, Labour has warned.
Revealed: Bennett's plan to split Monitor board
Monitor is likely to face “numerous” allegations of improper conduct unless it can clearly separate its future healthcare regulatory role from its responsibility for foundation trusts, its chairman has warned.
Training boards must 'resolve' financial conflicts of interest
NHS organisations charged with both allocating and spending the NHS’s £5bn education budget will be “mostly” trusted to manage any “competing interests” themselves.
Exclusive: trusts given days to apply for £300m capital fund
The Department of Health has confirmed the existence of a surprise £300m fund for capital projects that some trusts had seven working days to apply for - and others have still not been told about.
Amended private patient income cap 'will have little impact'
A government proposal to cap the amount of private income foundation trusts can earn at 49 per cent will have little practical impact on the health reforms, experts have claimed.
Exclusive: MPs to be warned over workforce reforms
NHS Employers will tell MPs there is a danger that overly-centralist government reforms would deprive trusts of sufficiently skilled staff, HSJ understands.
Exclusive: foundation trusts plan deepest workforce cuts in a generation
Foundation trusts are planning to cut at least 30,500 staff over the coming two years in what would be the steepest fall in NHS workforce since modern records began, an HSJ investigation has found.
Revealed: the foundations predicting steepest pay bill cuts
At least four acute foundation trusts have forecast wage bill cuts of 10 per cent or more over the coming two years, an HSJ analysis has found.
NHS trust sector in England 'heading towards deficit'
The NHS trust sector could be “heading for deficit” in 2011-12. Health economists made the warning after HSJ research revealed deepening problems among the financially weakest providers.
Acute trusts risk understaffing as short notice requests increase
Acute trusts without foundation status are increasingly putting staffing levels at risk by waiting too long to request temporary bank workers.
Managers divided over local pay options
NHS leaders are divided over a possible move away from national pay bargaining, although most managers with responsibilities over pay bills support greater local flexibility.
London NHS strategy has 'no clear lead'
The NHS in London faces a “strategic vacuum” with no clear lead to drive through change, The King’s Fund has said.
More on FTs
Could Hinchingbrooke set a benchmark for health organisation ownership?
Circle’s takeover of Hinchingbrooke hospital has opened a debate on hospital ownership and management, which could, Kevin Jacquiss says, inspire the government to look at new ideas to secure a sustainable future for health service organisations.
How proper procurement can lead to multi-million pound efficiency savings
The NHS needs to re-evaluate its procurement policy if it is to chip away at the £20bn efficiency challenge, says Shaun Howlett.
Solid foundations: how to lead successfully in the new foundation landscape
Life after authorisation will present new and unusual challenges for many foundation trust executives. Phil Kenmore and Simon Bird have four tips to help them with their survival - and look toward a successful future.
Legal lessons: securing judicial review of service reconfiguration
The Royal Brompton and Harefield Foundation Trust has successfully claimed Judicial Review of the Safe and Sustainable consultation about Paediatric Congenital Cardiac Services. Hempsons colleagues Bertie Leigh and Christian Dingwall explain how.
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.
Why it is vital trusts learn lessons from coroners' reports
When a patient dies, the Coroners Rules 1984 allows coroners to produce a report that has the single purpose of preventing future deaths, if it is deemed the risk of death will continue to exist. Joanna Trewin has some advice on how trusts can avoid these - and what to do if they don’t.
