An announcement today by Gordon Brown that ‘Failing hospitals may be taken over by the private sector’. At least that’s how the media are hyping up a variety of provisions to ensure that competent management interested in improving quality of care and getting best value for money. Mainly it will involve other good NHS management teams taking over poorly run services. Immediately and very predictably the British Medical Association criticised the move—all too threatening to their members. (I’m a member too but by the way). Don’t hold your breath for Unison, the RCN (nurses’ union) and other professional interest groups to join in. The Government has repeatedly  bottled out of establishing alternative arrangements to manage the problem of failing services. Mergers, acquisitions, take-overs and healthy competition between the public and independent sectors would characterise a healthy health sector. One good Foundation Trust has already been merged with another hospital so the same excellent management can supervise the whole but as yet we haven’t really tackled the other 17-20 hospital trusts which are never going to be financially viable and whose services suffer as a result. It’s all been politically too difficult. In the first place it has to be accepted that parts of the NHS don’t live up to government aspirations and that’s difficult for Ministers to admit in public especially to the local MP devoted to his own District General Hospital. It will be interesting to see whether anything except a one-off show case example is forthcoming from this announcement today. 

All day yesterday with Monitor, The Foundation Trust Regulator, meeting the boards of three aspiring hospitals and mental health services. As always I was impressed at how far the rigorous assessment process had helped these boards understand better their responsibilities.