Cheshire hospital £15m deficit 'may breach NHS licence'

A hospital trust in Cheshire may have breached its licence to provide NHS services, a health regulator has found.

An investigation was launched after Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust forecast a £15m shortfall in its budget by next April.

Monitor said the trust must take "urgent steps" to improve its finances to avoid further action.

Trust chair Simon McGuirk insists the breach "does not affect the day-to-day running of the organisation".

A spokesman for the regulator said it believed there are "reasonable grounds to suspect the trust has breached its licence to provide NHS-funded health services" due to its financial position.

A Monitor investigation into the trust's A&E performance has been closed following improvements.

An NHS provider licence is Monitor's main tool for regulating providers of NHS services, and sets out the conditions they have to meet.

Monitor Regional Director Paul Chandler said: "It is important that improvements are now made and that the trust is able to provide its services on a sustainable basis for patients in the local area."

Trust chairman Steve McGuirk said a turnaround plan will be produced to ensure a lower deficit over coming years.

"Naturally, we are confident as a senior leadership team that we are doing everything necessary to control our performance - we are seeing sustainable improvements in areas like A&E performance."

"However, like many NHS trusts, the current financial position continues to be very difficult and the years ahead continue to look very challenging."

Monitor also investigated concerns over the trust's Accident and Emergency department, but will not take further action after performance improved.

In May, the trust's chief executive Mel Pickup warned that the budget shortfall amounted to "one of the biggest challenges in recent history".