Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital to get regulator to help improve operation waiting times
An improvement regulator will be appointed to work at Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital to help significantly reduce waiting times for routine operations.
Government watchdog Monitor said today a timetable has not yet been drawn up for when and how the outside regulator will oversee an action plan for the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.
But it said talks were already taking place with hospital bosses.
Monitor wants to see waiting times cut and improvements made in the accuracy of the trust's reported data on waiting times.
The independent regulator will also help the trust develop and implement an "effective and robust recovery plan" to prevent similar problems from happening again.
The hospital's acting chief executive John Grinnell said the hospital board saw the move as an opportunity to address "once and for all" problems with waiting times and apologised to patients.
Monitor launched its investigation into the trust running the hospital last summer amid concerns too many patients were waiting longer than the 18-week national target for treatment.
Frances Shattock, regional director at Monitor, said the regulator would provide access to experts to help speed up its improvements and keep waiting times down.
"We are taking action at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust because patients are waiting too long for treatment and because the trust needs to improve how it is run.
"The trust is working to make the right improvements, but we have stepped in to oversee quick and effective change. By taking action, we can help the trust make the changes it needs."
Monitor says it will continue to scrutinise the trust's performance and may take further regulatory action if necessary.
Mr Grinnell said: "We have worked very closely with Monitor and other external partners throughout this process to get to the bottom of these issues and begin the task of establishing a sustainable recovery plan.
"We have been affected by problems related to our delivery of access targets for a number of years now, and we see this as an opportunity to sort the issue once and for all."
