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Dept of Health

Answer

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) at which NHS Foundation trusts other than Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Monitor has notified his Department of financial difficulties; [194247] (2) when Monitor notified his Department about the financial difficulties at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; [194248] (3) what information Monitor provides to his Department on a regular basis about the operation of foundation trusts. [194249] Mr. Hutton: Monitor, the statutory name of which is the independent regulator of national health service foundation trusts (NHSFTs), is an independent corporate body established under the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003. It is therefore Monitor's responsibility to authorise, monitor and regulate NHSFTs. I am informed by the chairman of Monitor that the monitoring exercise for the first quarter of the financial year identified that financial performance at the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHSFT was significantly behind that forecast at the point of authorisation. At its meeting of 29 September 2004, Monitor's board concluded that formal action under section 23 of the Act (failing NHS foundation trusts) was necessary. Minutes of the meeting are publicly available on Monitor's website at www.monitor-nhsft.gov.uk. Section 10 of the Act requires Monitor to publish a copy of any notice made under section 23 on the register of NHSFTs, which is publicly available on Monitor's website. This is the first and only occasion, to date, on which Monitor has exercised its powers under section 23 of the Act. A close working relationship is required at all levels between Monitor and the Department to ensure that both parties can effectively perform their statutory functions to ensure that the NHS continues to deliver a high and improving quality of service to the public. A memorandum of understanding was signed in September 2004, which sets out how this relationship works in practice, while at the same time safeguarding Monitor's independence. It includes an undertaking that Monitor and the Department will keep each other promptly and regularly informed about all developments and issues in which the other party may have an interest, and to ensure that the other party is given adequate warning of, and sufficient information about, any planned public announcements which might be considered to affect the interests of the other party. A copy of the memorandum is available in the Library. In keeping with the principles set out in the memorandum of understanding between them, Monitor advised the Department of its board's decision in early October.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

426 c647-8W; 194247;194248;194249

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Debts Finance NHS foundation trusts Monitor Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk