Poor management blamed for hospital trust's decline
Published 1 Aug 2011 17:00
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AN INDEPENDENT review into a hospital trust's 'sudden' decline has found that weak governance and a poor risk management were amongst the reasons.
Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust called on consultancy Verita to look at how it went from a well performing organisation in 2007/08 to requiring formal intervention and harbouring a £20m deficit by 2009/10.
In the review released today (Monday), Verita, which conducts investigations of public sector organisations, revealed that the trust was 'hit by an unusual combination of circumstances' in 2008/09 under management of its previous board, which led to the decline.
The report found that finance reports released by the trust 'failed to adequately assess the extent of the financial risk it faced' and that expenditure in 2008/09 ran significantly over budget.
The report also makes reference to bonuses that were paid to executive members of the board in 2007 and 2008, but found that 'in neither case do the minutes record discussion of the motivation or justification of the criteria.'
The structure of the trust's budget was also commented on and the report stated that the finance committee consisted of the entire board of directors, which is not normal for a foundation trust. It added that 'the trust's financial governance was weak.'
The relationship between the trust and the Berkshire East PCT, which commissions services from the trust, was also identified as having an influence, as the number of challenges from the PCT escalated as patient activity increased.
This article appeared in Slough Observer 02 Aug 11
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