Mid Stafforsdhire was at the centre of the scandal where up to 1,200 patients died needlessly at Stafford hospital (Reuters)
Mid Stafforsdhire was at the centre of the scandal where up to 1,200 patients died needlessly at Stafford hospital (Reuters)

The trust which runs the scandal-hit Stafford hospital is to become the first foundation to be put into administration, healthcare regulator Monitor confirms.

The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust will now be taken over by clinician Dr Hugo Mascie-Taylor along with Alan Bloom of Ernst and Young, after administrators declared the trust was "neither clinically nor financially sustainable in its current form".

The regulator had previously highlighted the fact that the trust would need to cut seven percent of its yearly budget just to break even.

The trust was recently at the centre of the Stafford Hospital scandal, after a £13m report found "serious failings" at the hospital where up to 1,200 people needlessly died.

A separate, independent inquiry revealed the Trust "routinely neglected patients".

The Trust Special Administrators now have 45 working days to design a way of providing services to patients in the area that is sustainable in the long term.

Services at the Stafford and Cannock hospitals will continue to run as normal until a final decision is reached.

Monitor warned the trust could be put into administration after the publication of the damning report in order to "safeguard services for local patients".

David Bennett, chief executive of Monitor, said: "It is important that people in Mid Staffordshire know that they can still access services as usual at Stafford and Cannock hospitals while the Trust Special Administration process is on-going.

"We have taken this decision to make sure that patients in the Mid Staffordshire area have the services they need in the future. It is now the role of the Trust Special Administrators to work with the local community to decide the best way of delivering these services. There will be a full public consultation on any proposals for change."

Lyn Hill-Tout, chief executive of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation trust, said: "Our staff continue to provide care for our patients at both Stafford and Cannock Chase hospitals, and are very proud to continue to put patients first.

"We would like to reassure local people and GPs that we are continuing to provide all our usual services at both hospitals and patients should turn up as usual for any appointments they have.

"We would like to thank our local community for their continued support, which means a great deal to staff."

A spokesperson for the regulator added: "Monitor took the decision to make the appointment after experts in a contingency planning team concluded that the trust was neither clinically nor financially sustainable in its current form.

"The appointment has been made following consultation with the Health Secretary and an order authorising the appointment was laid before Parliament today."