Closure of Monitor investigation

Monitor, the Foundation Trust regulator, has announced that it is closing its formal investigation into York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s compliance with its licence.

The investigation was opened in early September 2014 as a result of breaches of the four hour emergency access target and cancer targets, in particular the two week wait target for symptomatic breast patients.

As part of its investigation, Monitor looked for evidence of the nature and strength of the Trust’s governance arrangements, and aimed to gain assurance that the Board and wider management team are competent to manage the Trust’s performance and deliver improvements in these areas.

The Trust provided evidence of its monitoring and governance processes, and executive and non-executive directors met with Monitor to discuss this evidence and their concerns in further detail.

Patrick Crowley, Chief Executive of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I am delighted with Monitor’s decision, and I am pleased that we have been able to provide the evidence and reassurance to our regulators with regard to the running of our organisation.

“Whilst our performance regarding cancer targets has improved, and we were able to demonstrate to Monitor that we have plans in place to reduce waiting times in our emergency departments, we must nonetheless continue to play our part in improving performance against the four hour target alongside our commissioners and our partners in primary care and social care.

“Neither I, nor Monitor, can be complacent about our current performance, and we must continue to strive to meet our obligations in this regard.” 

31 October 2014