Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust, which was responsible for hundreds of needless patient deaths, could be dissolved. The news came after regulators recently announced the Trust was going in to administration.
This is yet another thread to Mid-Staffs’ troublesome history. It was at the centre of one of the worst scandals ever to rock the NHS, where routine abuse and appalling levels of neglect led to some 400 unnecessary deaths between 2005 and 2008.
To compound matters, Mid Staffordshire Trust has also faced significant financial problems. Last year it received a £20 million bailout from the Government, although this could not prevent regulators closing down certain wards and operating theatres that could not provide safe standards of care.
Now the regulator Monitor has decided to put the Trust into administration, stating it is neither clinically nor financially viable. An independent administrator will run the Mid Staffordshire Trust (which includes Cannock Chase and Stafford hospitals) while it decides what to do in the long-term.
This is only the second time an NHS Trust has gone into administration, with South London Healthcare going through the process in 2012. As a result, two non-executive directors, Eleanor Chumley-Roberts and Dr Lynne Hulme, have resigned from the Mid Staffordshire Trust board of health.
David Bennett, the chief executive of Monitor, said: “we are now consulting on whether to appoint administrators with the expertise to reorganise services in a way which is clinically robust and sustainable.”
The administrators have various options available, one of which entails closing down the Trust altogether. If this happens, essential services will be taken on by another organisation. Even if it is not closed down, it will not exist in its current form.
Either way, the future of Mid Staffs will be governed by change. While many are concerned this will leave them without access to the healthcare services they need, it is hoped the decision to proceed with administration will work to address the disturbing legacy the scandal-hit Trust has left.
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