Failing foundation trusts to be 'de-authorised' in wake of Mid Staffs scandal
22 July 2009
Hospital trusts could be stripped of foundation status in future if serious failings are identified, under new powers to be handed to the health secretary.
Andy Burnham
Health secretary Andy Burnham set out the plans as part of a package of measures to deal with exceptional failures at hospitals, announced in the wake of the Mid Staffordshire scandal earlier this year.
The move came as the Care Quality Commission published a three-month progress report on Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust, which found it had made an ‘acceptable start' in implementing improvements.
The DoH will consult this summer on measures that would enable the health secretary to order regulatory body Monitor to ‘de-authorise' a foundation trust.
The health secretary also announced a further independent inquiry into events at Mid Staffordshire, where around 400 deaths more than expected occurred between 2005 and 2008.
The inquiry will hear evidence from families and patients, with the aim of identifying ‘lessons for the future'. Current and former staff at the trust will be asked to give evidence, and the health secretary made clear he would use powers under the Inquiries Act 2005 to compel witnesses to attend if necessary.
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