Wolverhampton trust drops foundation status bid

The West Midlands trust restarted its foundation status bid in 2012 after its application was suspended by Monitor amid concerns over quality of care in 2011. The Care Quality Commission rated the trust as “requires improvement” in earlier this month.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt told HSJ this month that the award of a “good” or “outstanding’” rating from the CQC had replaced FT status as the mark of quality for NHS providers.

Last year the trust, which runs New Cross Hospital, took over the management of Cannock Chase Hospital in Staffordshire following the dissolution of the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust last year.

The trust said a decision to drop its application for foundation status was taken in March.

Royal Wolverhampton chief executive David Loughton said: “We can’t predict a balanced financial plan for the next five years because with the transition at Stafford we got additional funding for 29 months and now there’s only 22 months left. There’s got to be a financial solution to the financial problem in Staffordshire. If that funding dries up, you’ve got a problem.”

The trust is also currently facing an inquiry commissioned by the NHS Trust Development Authority into the handling of whistleblowing concerns.