Failing trust put in 'intensive recovery' scheme
BBCThe decision to put a failing NHS trust facing "deep-rooted challenges" into a recovery programme designed to tackle the "worst services in the country" has been welcomed by local MPs.
The North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Trust (NCIC) is one of five Health Secretary Wes Streeting said needed to be brought "up to standard again".
Changes will be bespoke to each trust, with options including leadership or structural changes, and sending in NHS "veterans" with a history of success.
Cumbria Labour MPs Josh MacAlister and Julie Minns said they would work with the trust and government to ensure the scheme led to "real results". The trust's interim head Trudie Davies said she welcomed the scheme.
Streeting said the intensive programme, which is due to begin in April, would target the worst performing trusts.
"Failure has been tolerated for too long. Staff know it. Patients feel it. And I won't stand for it," he said.
"We won't have succeeded in changing the NHS until we change it for the patients who are suffering the worst services in the country.
"That's why I've announced today a new intensive recovery programme."
Cumbria's historic challenges
Davies said she welcomed the recognition of the challenges the trust had historically faced in Cumbria.
"It is clear that we would benefit from additional support and look forward to understanding what we will receive to accelerate the pace of change," she said.
In a statement MacAlister, MP for Whitehaven and Workington, and Carlisle MP Minns said they recognised "real progress" had been made at the trust and additional expert support was what it needed.
"This is not about failure - it's about backing that progress and helping the trust to go further, faster," they said in a joint statement.
The other four trusts making up the programme's first cohort are Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust.
These were chosen because they experienced persistent financial issues, had a high "churn" in leadership and were the ones where patients faced the longest waits for care, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.
