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Stafford Hospital: Hunt to decide whether to dissolve NHS Trust Stafford Hospital: Health Secretary Hunt agrees to dissolve trust
(about 5 hours later)
Managers at scandal-hit Stafford Hospital are waiting to hear whether Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will dissolve the trust that runs it. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has backed calls to dissolve the trust that runs the scandal-hit Stafford Hospital.
Administrators want Mr Hunt to scrap the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust and move services to other hospitals. Mr Hunt said Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust would be scrapped and, while its two hospitals will remain open, many services will move to other hospitals.
Local people are planning a legal challenge if that decision is taken. The trust has been in administration since April when services were deemed "unsustainable" by watchdog Monitor.
The trust was criticised last year by a public inquiry for the "suffering of hundreds of people" under its care. It has been in administration since April. However, campaigners who oppose the move have pledged to challenge the decision in the courts.
The inquiry, led by Robert Francis QC, revealed some patients were left lying in their own faeces for days and given the wrong medication. Under the plans, Stafford and Cannock Chase Hospitals will be "operated by other local providers".
The report published after the inquiry made 290 recommendations aimed at tackling the wider cultural problems in the NHS. Mr Hunt said the changes would "secure the safe and high-quality services that the people of Stafford deserve having endured years of uncertainty and failures in care".
In January, Monitor approved plans laid out by Trust Special Administrators (TSA) a month earlier to abolish Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. It would be the first foundation trust to be broken up. He added: "I want Stafford to be a proper district hospital that continues to meet the needs of patients nearby, including for emergency care and births."
Under the proposals, control of Stafford Hospital would go to the neighbouring University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust (UHNS) while Cannock Hospital would be run by the Royal Wolverhampton Trust. He said he wanted to dissolve the trust "as soon as possible" to stabilise local health services.
Services, including maternity, paediatric and critical care units at Stafford, would be downgraded. Stafford could still retain consultant-led maternity services after Mr Hunt agreed to NHS England carrying out a review into the issue.
The TSA has previously said it would take three years, from the secretary of state's agreement, to implement the proposed changes at a total cost of £220m. The original plan from administrators had been for maternity services to close but this was later amended to allow for the creation of a midwife-led unit.
The Support Stafford Hospital group said it was looking at the possibility of legal action if the decision was taken to axe the trust. Mr Hunt has now agreed to review that decision to see whether consultant-led services - needed for more difficult births - should be retained.
It comes after the High Court overturned the health secretary's decision to downgrade Lewisham Healthcare Trust's emergency department in July. The trust was criticised in February 2013 in a public inquiry headed by Robert Francis QC for causing the "suffering of hundreds of people" under its care between 2005 and 2008.
Diana Smith, from Support Stafford Hospital, said: "People have been talking to different legal advisors about what action we could take but I personally hope that there will be no need. The inquiry criticised the cost-cutting and target-chasing culture that had developed at the trust.
"I hope Jeremy Hunt has listened to the sensible representations that have been made to him over the last few weeks and that he's done enough to make the suggestions more acceptable to people in Stafford. Receptionists were left to decide which patients to treat, inexperienced doctors were put in charge of critically ill patients and nurses were not trained how to use vital equipment.
"If he hasn't shifted position at all that opens it up for people going down the road to judicial review and things like that." Cases have also been documented of patients left crying out for help because they did not get pain relief and food and drinks being left out of reach.
Calum Paton, who is professor of Health Policy at Keele University and a former chairman of the UHNS trust, said Mr Hunt needed to make sure the plan worked financially. Data shows there were between 400 and 1,200 more deaths than would have been expected between 2005 and 2008, although it is impossible to say all of these patients would have survived if they had received better treatment.
He said: "It has to be the case that the University Hospital of North Staffordshire is given the capital to make sure it can cope with the new demand at a time of extreme financial stringency in the NHS. The inquiry made 290 recommendations aimed at tackling the wider cultural problems in the NHS.
"The danger is the decision makers say here's the rational way to do things but one year down the track we discover it's not being funded properly." Sue Hawkins, from the Save Stafford Hospital group, said: "We were expecting the trust to dissolve.
The government has made clear there will be a full parliamentary debate over the hospital "in due course". "We understood from the outset that would be the case but we are a semi-rural area and people are going to have to travel long distances to receive care.
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk adding 'Stafford' in the subject heading and including your contact details. "It's been a very lengthy process. I wouldn't wish this on any other hospital."
Christina McAnea, head of health for Unison, said the decision was "bitterly disappointing" for the local community and staff.
"The facts show patient care has improved massively," she said.
"If key services are to be transferred to neighbouring trusts, it is vital that they are given the financial resources needed to take on the extra responsibility."