WIREDGOV

Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts, has used its formal powers of intervention to appoint - with immediate effect - an Interim Chair at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Chris Langley has been appointed as Interim Chair following the decision of the Trust’s Chair, Dr Tim Lincoln, to resign.

In July 2009, Monitor found the Trust to be in significant breach of the terms of their Authorisation as a result of a rapid decline in their financial and operational performance.

The Trust was then required to submit a recovery plan, which was presented to Monitor in October. Monitor’s Board did not consider that this plan was robust enough to ensure the Trust’s return to a sustainable position, or that it demonstrated that the Trust had in place the Board and clinical leadership necessary to achieve this.

Monitor is now intervening to ensure that the Trust has the Board-level leadership and capacity needed to return to a secure position, while at the same time ensuring patient care remains the highest priority.. We will also be requiring the Trust to take steps to strengthen its clinical leadership, as it is clear that this will be needed to drive the level of organisational and resourcing change necessary to address the challenges it faces.

Our objective in taking this regulatory action is to ensure that the foundation trust is well led in order to provide safe, high quality care for patients. We have taken swift action to appoint Chris Langley as Interim Chair, and to require a substantive appointment to the role of Interim Medical Director, in order to put in place the strategic and operational leadership needed to stabilise the Trust and assist in its successful recovery.

Notes to editors:

1. For media enquires please contact Anna Jefferson on 0207 340 2442
2. The decision to intervene at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals Foundation Trust was taken at a meeting of Monitor’s Board on 13 October 2009. The formal notice of intervention is available on Monitor’s website http://www.monitor-nhsft.gov.uk/home/about-nhs-foundation-trusts/nhs-foundation-trust-directory/heatherwood-and-wexham-park-hospital
3. Monitor assigns financial risk ratings to every NHS foundation trust on a quarterly basis. These range from 5 (lowest risk) to 1 (highest risk). The Trust is currently assigned a financial risk rating of 1, which indicates serious concerns about the financial governance of the trust. It is forecast that this rating will remain throughout the financial year 2009/10.
4. Chris Langley is a non-Executive Director of North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust. His previous roles include turnaround Chief Executive of Jessops PLC and Managing Director of Dixons Group PLC.
5. Monitor will be working with the Trust to identify a substantive appointment to the post of Interim Medical Director at the earliest opportunity. Currently, the Trust has in place an acting Medical Director who will continue in the role until this longer term solution is identified.
6. Monitor authorises and regulates NHS foundation trusts, ensuring they are well-managed and financially viable in order to deliver high quality healthcare for patients.
7. Monitor was established in January 2004. It is independent of government and accountable to Parliament. Monitor’s functions and powers are set out in the National Health Service Act 2006.