Ernst & Young called in to save foundation hospital
Ernst & Young's most senior insolvency practitioners take up role at Mid Staffordshire Hospital Trust
Ernst & Young's most senior insolvency practitioners take up role at Mid Staffordshire Hospital Trust
THE FIRST EVER administrators to a foundation hospital trust have been appointed.
Ernst & Young’s Alan Bloom and Alan Hudson (pictured) will serve as ‘trust special administrators’ to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, alongside clinician Dr Hugo Mascie-Taylor.
The first foundation hospital trusts came into being in 2004, and have a degree of financial and clinical autonomy from central government.
Health regulator Monitor appointed the administrators, following consultation with the health secretary, to “safeguard its future”.
A contingency planning team had previously concluded that the trust was “neither clinically nor financially sustainable in its current form”, said Monitor.
The administrators now have 45 working days to come up with a sustainable long-term solution achieving both clinical and financial stability.
David Bennett, chief executive of Monitor, said: “It is important that people in Mid Staffordshire know that they can still access services as usual at Stafford and Cannock hospitals while the Trust Special Administration process is on-going.
“We have taken this decision to make sure that patients in the Mid Staffordshire area have the services they need in the future. It is now the role of the Trust Special Administrators to work with the local community to decide the best way of delivering these services. There will be a full public consultation on any proposals for change.”
Alan Bloom and Alan Hudson are two of the UK’s most experienced insolvency practitioners.
Bloom has served on some of the biggest and highest profile insolvencies, including Landsbanki, Barings, Railtrack, TXU and Metronet. Hudson worked on the Dreams pre-pack, Republic (UK)’s administration, Zavvi and Focus DIY.