Circle to challenge 'inadequate' Hinchingbrooke rating

The Cambridgeshire district general hospital, which is the only privately operated trust in the country, was rated “inadequate” by the regulator on the questions of whether it is caring, safe and well led, and has been put in special measures.

A spokesman for Circle confirmed to HSJ that the company plans to submit a request for the trust’s rating to be reviewed.

The firm announced its intention earlier this month to pull out from the Hinchingbrooke contract.

Circle has a portfolio that includes two private hospitals and a musculoskeletal contract in Bedfordshire, and so its wider business activities could be damaged by the CQC’s Hinchingbrooke verdict.

A CQC spokeswoman said: “All trusts have a right to appeal.”

Under the CQC’s process, the only basis for a review being upheld is that the regulator did not follow its own process for making ratings decisions and aggregating them.

According to its guidance, “reviews cannot be requested on the basis that [providers] disagree with the judgments made by the CQC”.

These disagreements are supposed to be dealt with prior to the publication of inspection reports, when there is an opportunity to challenge the factual accuracy of CQC findings.

The review request will be led by CQC staff who were not involved in the original inspection, with access to an “independent reviewer”.

If Circle does not get the outcome it wants through its appeal but still wants to challenge the rating, it will have exhausted the CQC’s internal process and would therefore have to resort to other means.

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This could include a complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman or judicial review.

Circle’s spokesman declined to comment on whether the company would take further legal action if its appeal was unsuccessful.

The trust and the NHS Trust Development Authority are expected to provide further details about plans for the transition of the hospital back to full NHS control in the coming weeks, possibly as early as the trust’s board meeting on 5 February.

Circle said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange on 9 January it expected to provide “an update” about its discussions with the TDA in its trading statement in February.

A senior source familiar with the talks cautioned that the political sensitivity of the arrangements could mean decisions around the substantive parts of the process are delayed until after the general election.

As well the logistical arrangements, Circle needs to negotiate how much it is obliged to cover “termination and reprocurement costs incurred by Hinchingbrooke”, capped at £2m under the contract.