Circle to run first franchised NHS trust
25 November 2010
Circle, the employee co-owned partnership, has today been chosen
as the preferred partner to run Hinchingbrooke Healthcare NHS Trust
in Huntingdon.
In an historic move, the East of England Strategic Health
Authority has selected an independent provider to take over the
delivery of NHS services at Hinchingbrooke hospital.
Circle have a track record in turning round NHS services by
empowering front-line healthcare professionals. Employing
over 1000 seconded NHS staff and treating more than 130 000
patients each year, Circle's NHS day surgery hospitals in
Nottingham and Burton delivered over 20% productivity gains in
their first year of Circle operation, at the same time as improving
patient outcomes to four times better than the national benchmark
and patient satisfaction to 99.6%.
Dr. Stephen Dunn, Director of Strategy at NHS East of England,
said: "Circle's John Lewis style partnership model and track record
of turning round NHS services make them our preferred partner to
transform the first NHS trust to be franchised. We are
impressed by the way CIrcle devolve decision-making to those
closest to patients, and empower doctors, nurses and all staff to
innovate to deliver better care for their patients".
"In Circle we have selected an innovative partner with a
cutting-edge approach to propel Hinchingbrooke into the premier
league. This has to be a model for hospitals that face
similar challenges nationally."
Ali Parsa, Circle's Chief Executive, said: "Circle's
co-operative model offers a Big Society solution for Hinchingbrooke
- liberating doctors and nurses to deliver the best services for
the patients they know best. This is a great opportunity for
an employee partnership and local clinicians to come together to
lead the next chapter in the long and successful history of the
NHS. Through this unique partnership, we will continue to
provide high-quality NHS services that are free at the point of use
for the people of Huntingdon. We'd like to thank the
Strategic Health Authority for their willingness to think outside
the box to secure the highest quality services for patients in
Hutingdon."