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London health trust 'wastes £100,000' in failed bid for flagship status
Anna Davis20 Apr 2009
A LONDON health trust spent £100,000 applying to become a flagship foundation hospital - only to withdraw at the last minute.
The Whittington Hospital in Archway had been in the final stage of its application for the new status, which would have given it more independence over how it runs its affairs.
It decided to drop the plans because of the "level of uncertainty" in the financial climate, its chief executive said. The Whittington spent the money on running a public consultation, printing leaflets and advertising the fact that it wanted to become a foundation trust
The new type of hospitals are a key plank of Labour's NHS reform plans, and are designed to decentralise the health service. John Lister, of campaign group London Health Emergency, said: "This decision underlines the financial chaos which is destabilising health services across London. There's a poisonous combination of the credit crunch and historical debt overshadowing hospitals."
Applying for foundation status takes more than five months. Trusts must run a three-month public consultation, draw up a business plan, recruit members and governors and be approved by the secretary of state.
All information is then passed to Monitor, an independent regulator, which decides if a hospital can become a foundation trust. It was at this stage that the Whittington Hospital withdrew its application.
David Sloman, chief executive of the Whittington, said the financial climate had changed "significantly" since the hospital first applied for foundation status 15 months ago.
He added: "Given this level of financial uncertainty, the board decided it would not be in the best interests of the trust or taxpayer to continue with the current application."
He insisted the £100,000 was "money well spent", adding: "This will stand us in good stead moving forward. Our annual turnover is £165 million, so £100,000 is a tiny percentage."
