by IainBate
3. August 2012 13:03
Monitor has been forced to intervene and take control of the running of the Royal Bolton Hospital in an attempt to stabilise its finances.
The regulator has appointed an interim chairman and told hospital directors to appoint a turnaround director and external advisors to tackle its debts.
The hospital began the financial year with a £1.9m deficit leading Monitor to call for “immediate action”.
The hospital had its finances placed under “red risk” by Monitor in a second report which recently criticised its leadership.
Bosses at the failing hospital “acknowledged and accepted” there had been failings but said they would “stabilise” finances without jeopardising patient care.
Monitor’s intervention is the first time this financial year it has invoked formal powers to take over struggling trusts. It said the decision was based on a “worsening financial position” leading to a failure to “exercise its functions effectively, efficiently and economically”.
David Wakefield, the chairman of Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, has been appointed interim chair.
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