Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has set out new financial diagnostic checks and the next steps for NHS Trusts wanting to apply for Foundation status. She announced a new diagnostic programme to be rolled out to all NHS Acute Trusts to improve financial management in the NHS and to test whether potential applicants are ready before they make the step up to Foundation status.
She also announced that two star Acute, Specialist and Mental Health Trusts will be able to submit applications, but that the same rigorous standards will be demanded by Monitor – the independent regulator that authorises applications – before any achieve Foundation Status.
Patricia Hewitt said: “The concerns about financial management in some parts of the NHS have encouraged us to develop, with Monitor, a new financial diagnostic tool. The new diagnostic programme will drive a culture of improved financial management across the NHS and give Trusts a clear indication of any areas for improvement before they embark upon the Foundation Trust application process.”
