Monitor places King's Lynn in special measures

A man who played a key role in stabilising Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust in the aftermath of its care scandal takes over as chief executive while the trust will be partnered by London’s Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust.

The hospital is the first to be placed under special measures other than the 11 Keogh review trusts which entered in July.

The trust had previously received warnings about inadequate patient care from the Care Quality Commission and a report from NHS England highlighted low nurse staffing levels. The trust has also been in breach of its licence for financial issues since April.

A new management team has been put in place with a focus on turning around the struggling foundation trust’s prospects.

Manjit Obhrai, who has experience in turning around the fortunes of poor performing FTs as medical director at the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust, takes over as chief executive.

Trust chair Kate Gordon has stepped down and has been replaced by David Dean, who is currently vice-chair of Guy’s and St Thomas’.  

The former chief executive of neighbouring James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth David Hill will join as improvement director.

Stephen Hay, managing director of provider regulation at Monitor, said: “We have been monitoring the performance of this trust for some time, and it is clear that the current leadership of the trust is not the right one to bring about the changes needed.”

He added: “That’s why we’ve taken this action, appointing new leadership and bringing in a team that has a wealth of experience. Special measures will give the trust the opportunity to start delivering the standard of care patients expect.”

Chief Inspector of Hospitals Sir Mike Richards said: “The failings we found at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn were unacceptable on more than one occasion.

“The concerns we found, coupled with information from our partner agencies and other regulators, were so great we felt it was necessary to request that Monitor intervene and place the trust in to special measures to assist in driving through improvements for patient care.

“CQC will continue to monitor this trust closely and our inspectors will be returning unannounced to check on whether improvements have been made and standards are being met.”