Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
| Type of Trust | |
|---|---|
| NHS hospital trust | |
| NHS Region | |
| NHS | |
| Location | |
| Trust Details | |
| Last annual budget | |
| Employees | 3200 |
| Chair | Ben Reid |
| Chief Executive | Richard Kirby |
| Links | |
| Website | Walsall Healthcare |
| Care Quality Commission | CQC |
The Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, previously known as Walsall Hospital NHS Trust, was formed in April 2001. It runs Walsall Manor Hospital and provides community services in Walsall. In April 2011 the hospital trust merged with Walsall Community Health.
It agreed in July 2015 to join the Black Country Alliance with Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. The plan is to create a jointly owned Company Limited by Guarantee which will enable the three trusts to jointly bid for contracts. There will also be some consolidation of administrative functions like payroll, information technology and estates.
The trust was the defendant in the legal case of Drew v Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust [2013] UKEAT 0378_12_2009 (20 September 2013). Dr David Drew, a paediatric consultant, claimed that he was unfairly dismissed. The Trust has told him that he "should refrain from any religious references in his professional communications". He refused to accept this instruction and was dismissed. He claimed that he had been discriminated against on religious grounds. The Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal dismissed his claim.
In November 2013 the Trust announced that it needed a new A&E department, intensive care unit and expansion of maternity services to deal with rising demand, on top of the £170 million redevelopment completed in 2010.
The Trust's board meeting in May 2014 noted it had been forced to “recruit 25 additional staff” to address “a number of issues [which] have arisen as their Lorenzo patient record systems move to business as usual”, including “backlogs, clinic restructuring and un-outcomed outpatient clinic forms”. Problems with Lorenzo were said to have contributed to a 15% reduction in outpatient activity. At the same time the Trust had a 25% increase in emergency admissions, related to problems at nearby Stafford Hospital. It predicts a £9 million deficit for 2014/5.
In October 2012 71-year-old Harry Riley fell from a first floor window at the hospital and later died. The Trust was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive and fined £80,000.
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