The future for the NHS looks incredibly challenging with the reduction in funding combined with the requirement to achieve ever higher efficiency savings.
Monitor wrote to all FTs in June requiring Boards to ‘develop their own assessment of downside risks taking into account local priorities and known commissioning intentions’. Monitor is particularly keen to see the downside risks and planned mitigating actions for 2011/12 and 2012/13.
Everyone knows that to have achieved FT status you had to put in a lot of hard work; getting through the process, demonstrating that you were well governed, legally constituted and financially viable. Now Monitor wants you to demonstrate a clear understanding of the main challenges and to show how these will impact in terms of overall financial stability, the services provided, wider local health economy issues and the related quality and outcome objectives.
We have been working with a leading FT to consider how it can position itself for the future, including the development of a robust financial plan; successful, forward thinking, well managed organisations put such measures in place even though they may not need them immediately, to ensure that they are able to respond to new and difficult challenges quickly.
Monitor is looking for your three year plan to be submitted by 30 September 2009. Failure to demonstrate that your Board has considered a range of potential outcomes and risks and is developing, with governors, a successful strategy to mitigate them is likely to increase Monitor’s concern as to the capacity of your Board to plan against future risks.
We can help you meet the deadline, have an action plan in place and ensure that you continue to meet the changing demands facing your Trust and Monitor’s expectations. For more information or to discuss this in further detail, please contact our sales team on 01246 278385.