STRATFORD District Council has joined Redditch and Bromsgrove councils in calling for the Secretary of State for Health to investigate the possibility of breaking up Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (WAHT).
The trust, which runs the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, was recently branded as ‘inadequate’ in a damning report by health watchdogs the Care Quality Commission who said it needed to be put into special measures.
Now the leaders of the three local authorities, Councillor Bill Hartnett of Redditch, Margaret Sherrey of Bromsgrove and Chris Saint of Stratford have put their names to a letter addressed to NHS England, the Trust Development Authority and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt calling for the break up of the trust to be investigated as soon as possible.
MPs for the three areas affected by the trust, Karen Lumley, Sajid Javid and Nadhim Zahawi – have secured a meeting with the chief executive of NHS Improvement – the authority responsible for turning around the trust, but despite backing the letter haven’t signed it on the grounds that they are members of the government.
