Dr Sue Farrant has today written to Monitor, the NHS Foundation Hospital Trust regulator asking it to explain why it was not keeping closer scrutiny on the County Hospital during its first year of operation as a Foundation Trust. She also asked that Monitor provide interim finance to the hospital ease the current crisis. (See attached letter)
She also asked what was being done to hold to account those responsible for the management failure at DCH which has resulted in the current financial crisis.
Demanding greater transparency, Sue Farrant said, “There is great anxiety amongst local people who use and who work at the County Hospital. We need to know much more about what went wrong and why. Those responsible for allowing the situation to reach this point were all paid by the public and so they are accountable to the public.”
Recognising that the new management team has some very difficult decisions to make to stabilise the situation, Dr Farrant has stressed the need to protect patient services. She is calling for the cuts to fall primarily on the administrative and management posts
