BOSSES from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust have unanimously agreed to defer the reactivation of the trust’s Foundation Trust (FT) application until April 2012.

The decision, taken at a meeting of the trust’s board on Thursday, June 2, is in recognition of the significant challenges facing the organisation in the immediate future.

The Alex Hospital in Redditch, run by the trust, recently came in for heavy critcism after a damning report over its standards of care for the elderly, from the Care Quality Commission (CQC). But the chairman of the trust has denied that the deferral is taking place as a result of the report.

Trust chairman Harry Turner said: “It is no secret that we face a significant financial challenge in 2011/12, as well as the challenge of rebuilding the confidence of our patients and the morale of our staff following the recent damaging CQC report.

“It is important to say that this decision has not been made as a result of the CQC report. However, we need absolutely no distractions and to demonstrate our absolute commitment to patient safety and quality of care, the decision to self-defer our FT application until the beginning of the new financial year is the right one to make.”

In February, the board sought approval from regulator Monitor to extend the deferment period until August 2011. This deferment period will now be extended until April 2012.

Mr Turner added: “We remain committed to becoming a Foundation Trust for the benefit of our patients, staff and stakeholders in the future and our members and governors still have an important role to play. We will be continuing to engage with them about the direction of the trust moving forward.”