Wye Valley Trust may change services instead of lose independence

The Herefordshire trust – which runs hospital, community and adult social care services – said in March that it believed it could not achieve foundation trust status as a stand-alone organisation, and began considering three options for its future.

Those were being taken over by a private company as franchise, being acquired by a foundation trust, or having its services broken up and run by several other providers.

However the trust has since announced it is considering further alternative options which would not necessarily see it close. These include considering taking on primary care services, and increasing its activity and income.

Last week the trust announced it was also considering a sixth option, which was carrying out a major service reconfiguration.

Interim chief executive Derek Smith said: “We made it clear from the outset this would be an open and transparent process and, having listened to stakeholders views, we feel it is important to explore a further option, taking the total to six.”

The trust said reconfiguration would include an evaluation of services looking at patient outcomes, costs and usage.

It has previously said it needs to save £32m over the next four years.

The trust is expected to finish considering the options by the end of the month. It has promised to consult with commissioners, the NHS Trust Development Authority and other stakeholders on its decisions.

A final decision is expected later in the year.

Wye Valley Trust was the first trust to provide hospital, community and adult social care services in the NHS. It has an estimated annual turnover of around £160m and around 3,000 staff.