NHS regulator given new powers to shut hospitals whose clinical care is poor

Healthcare regulators in England are to receive tougher powers to act on hospitals that provide poor quality clinical care, including the ability to shut down foundation trusts that fail to improve within a set time period.

The Care Bill,1 published on 10 May, outlines new powers the government is introducing in response to Robert Francis QC’s report into failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.2 For the first time the economic regulator of the NHS, Monitor, is to be given authority to shut down foundation trusts that are failing clinically and not just financially. The Francis report found that poor quality care at Mid Staffordshire was related to too much focus on financial and organisational issues rather than on protecting patients and the quality of care.

The health minister Norman …