Urgent Enquiry into Operations of Foundation Trust Needed- Burt

12.00.00am GMT Wed 3rd Feb 2010

Lorely Burt, MP for Solihull, has today demanded an enquiry into the operations of the Heart of England Foundation Trust. This comes after Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS Trusts, wrote a letter to the Trust explaining that it is in 'significant breach of its terms of authorisation.' This is because the Foundation Trust's hospitals failed to see patients at A&E in under four hours.

It has also been reported that patients are now more than four times as likely to wait outside Solihull Hospital in an ambulance than other West Midlands hospitals. Lorely is concerned that this is so that the clock does not start ticking on the Government's target for seeing A&E patients in under four hours.

Lorely has written a letter to Secretary of State Andy Burnham, asking that he looks into the current state of affairs of the Foundation Trust. In addition she is having a meeting with Mark Goldman, CEO of the Trust on Friday to discuss the recent problems that have occurred over the last few months, first with the Care Quality Commission Report and now with Monitor.

Lorely said:

"On the back of Care Quality Commission Report and Maternity Ward fiasco, the letter from Monitor is another black mark for the management of the Heart of England Foundation Trust"

"The people of Solihull and South East Birmingham deserve the best quality of health care and it has become apparent that the Foundation Trust is having serious problems delivering it ."

"The reports that Solihull hospital is leaving patients outside the hospital for more than an hour are also extremely worrying. I certainly hope this is not to pad the numbers of those being seen in A&E in under four hours"

"I now feel that it is necessary to express to the Secretary of State for Health that there needs to be an urgent enquiry into the Foundation Trust and its operations."