Mid Staffordshire NHS trust 'too small to be sustainable'

There are no immediate concerns over the care being offered at through the trust at present experts in the Contingency Planning Team advised the the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts, Monitor, that this will not be sustainable.

The report says that Mid Staffs is one of the smallest trusts in the country with relatively low levels of patients attending accident and emergency, and requiring non-elective surgery and maternity services.

This means the two hospitals at Stafford and Cannock Chase will find it increasingly difficult to provide adequate professional experience for consultants, and support them in the numbers recommended to maintain a high quality service in the long term.

• The Department of Health gave the Trust £20m last year
• The investigation found that in order to break even, the Trust would need to make £53m of savings in five years (equating to 7% of its annual budget every year)

• The Trust would still require a £73m subsidy from the Department over the period.