Evening Standard comment: End these London hospital failures

There would seem to be no obvious relationship between performance and rewards when it comes to the top echelons of the NHS. Managing the trust is a huge challenge and it is possible that it is simply too big an entity
18 December 2013
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Queen's Hospital in Romford and King George’s in Ilford have big challenges: diverse populations, elderly patients, locations that make it hard to attract the best doctors and, at Queen’s, one of London’s busiest A&Es. Even so, the extent of mismanagement that resulted in the parent Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust being placed in special measures, after a damning report from the Care Quality Commission, is striking. Professor Sir Mike Richards, chief inspector of hospitals, said it had failed to address concerns about its two A&E departments. But the problems with maternity services have occasioned most controversy.

This is only one of several trusts that have been cursed by Gordon Brown’s PFI programme — an attempt to offload the cost of capital spending from the public balance sheet which has left trusts with unsustainable debts. Queen’s was rebuilt in 2004 under a PFI scheme and financial problems continue. PFI payments amount to some £5 million a year. The trust must cut services to find £19 million of savings. It is not just this trust, but many, which must bite the bullet of the PFI legacy: one option may be to renege on their contracts.

Then there is the part played in the failure of the trust by chief executive Averil Dongworth. She has had some successes, including improvements in stroke services, but her three years have been punctuated by controversy, culminating in this report. Nonetheless, she has a £225,000 salary and a pension pot worth £2.3 million when she leaves in March. There would seem to be no obvious relationship between performance and rewards when it comes to the top echelons of the NHS.

Managing the trust is a huge challenge and it is possible that it is simply too big an entity. For the same reason, its failure would have repercussions for other trusts including Royal London, Whipps Cross and Homerton. The hospital has promised to take “every necessary action” to improve; the question for Health Secretary Jeremy Hun is how to make sure that happens.

Welcome visitors

Given the number of high-spending Russians in the most fashionable shops in the capital, it is hard to imagine that London is reportedly only their ninth favourite destination, after cities including Paris, Rome, Madrid and Barcelona. The boss of Harrods, Michael Ward, says this is due to the UK’s more complex visa requirements than those in the Schengen area: the rest of the EU is easier to visit. The point holds good for wealthy visitors from other areas, not least China.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has tried to meet concerns about Bulgarian and Romanian arrivals from next month claiming UK benefits by expediting the requirement that EU nationals must be resident here for three months before they are eligible to claim. Some EU experts says that this is already the case. The point is that most arrivals from these countries are here already and are in work — or want to work. There are problems with immigration numbers but they are not met by Bulgaria-bashing. How about sorting out the mess that is the UK Border Agency?

Shakespeare at large

A new production of Coriolanus at the Donmar joins Henry V and Richard II at the Noël Coward and the Barbican to make this a remarkably rich season for Shakespeare. It’s not exactly panto, but the Bard can certainly draw the Christmas crowds.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in