Hospital chairman sacked over accounting issues
The chairman of a foundation hospital has been sacked by the independent regulator for failing to address financial difficulties within his NHS trust.
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John Ryan, chairman of Bradford Teaching hospitals, was removed yesterday for failing to produce a credible recovery strategy after accountants discovered a £11.3m hole in its accounts.
Foundations are self-governing and cannot be bailed out by the government if they run into loss, a fact that raises the spectre of bankruptcy.
The chairman of Monitor, the regulatory body, William Moyes, told The Guardian newspaper that the rescue plan submitted to him by the Bradford board ‘lacks strategic vision and coherence’. He said it included ‘opportunistic proposals which do not attempt to address the underlying causes of the cost overruns’.
Moyes has appointed a former NHS regional director, Peter Garland, as interim chairman to help get the trust back on its feet.