Privately-run NHS hospital scheme branded ‘poor and inadequate’

House of Commons committee chairwoman Margaret Hodge has said that the decision to allow Circle to run Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire has left taxpayers “exposed”.

Circle pulled out of running the hospital in January, after taking control of Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust in February 2012. It cited funding cuts and “unprecedented” A&E attendance increases.

Following a visit by the Care Quality Commission in September 2014, the trust was rated inadequate.

A report by the Public Accounts Committee in January 2013 said that the committee “expressed concerns that Circle’s bid to run Hinchingbrooke had not been properly risk assessed and was based on overly optimistic… savings projections”.

The report went on to say “The Department of Health responded that the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) would monitor progress and take action if the trust was failing to deliver on its plans.

“In the event, Circle was not able to make the trust sustainable and the TDA did not take effective action to protect the taxpayer.”

Mrs Hodge said “Despite our warnings about the risks, oversight of the contract by the various parties who had a role was poor and inadequate and no-one has been held accountable for the consequences.

“As we warned in 2013, the taxpayer has been left exposed by the failure of the Hinchingbrooke franchise.”

A spokesman from Circle said “We have made the savings we planned – and the taxpayer has still saved £23m thanks to the deal with Circle.”

A spokesman from TDA said “We will consider the Public Accounts Committee’s report and recommendations to take forward the learning from the Hinchingbrooke management franchise to improve our oversight and intervention mechanisms.

“The trust is currently receiving intensive support for quality improvements through our special measures intervention package.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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