Mid Yorkshire leadership to remain and 'develop partnerships'

The trust made the statement to clarity its position following confirmation in July that it would not meet the 2014 deadline to become a foundation trust. In some cases the Department of Health - whose functions in relation to Trusts are passing to the NHS Trust Development Authority - has removed leaders of failing trusts.

A statement said: “At that time, the Department of Health confirmed that they wanted the Trust to work with local NHS commissioners (including the emerging Clinical Commissioning Groups) to determine the future direction of the Trust and its services.

“The Trust and commissioners recently met with the NHS Trust Development Authority to review the position. It was confirmed that the Trust’s current leadership team should continue to take forward the work to identify a long term solution.

“The Trust will continue to build on the progress already made to address its financial challenges and improve clinical performance. The Trust and its commissioners also have support from the wider NHS to press ahead with the current programme of work to reorganise clinical services, including redesign of hospital services and joining up care with community and primary care services.

“In addition, the Trust has started discussions with other local health and social care service providers with a view to developing partnerships for the delivery of specialist and local services and this work will continue.”

There has previously been speculation that the trust could be split, with its three constituent hospitals divided up.

Stephen Eames, Interim Chief Executive of the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “This demonstrates that the leadership team and our staff are doing the right things to tackle the issues facing the Trust. Together we are building confidence in our ability to develop the right solution for local services and local communities.

“Our first priority will always be to ensure people using our services receive excellent, safe care. We will continue to work with the NHS locally and with other representatives from across Mid Yorkshire to determine the best way forward for this organisation.”

Mike Potts, Chief Executive of NHS Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield District, said: “We are pleased that the progress the Trust is making has been recognised and we will continue to work with them to ensure high quality services are available for our local communities. A key part of this will be the work to take forward the clinical services strategy, which is vital if we are to make sure we have health services that meet the needs of local people and offer patients the best possible outcomes.”