The Briefing for Commissioners which Monitor published last year describes in broad terms the types of issues relating to NHS foundation trusts which PCTs may decide to bring to the attention of its compliance teams. These include either a significant issue or a pattern of issues, including but not limited to contractual matters, which give PCTs cause for concern about the broader governance or management structures and capabilities in a foundation trust and/or which may lead to a breach of its terms of authorisation.
Issues which Monitor is keen to hear about include ongoing and unresolved failures to resolve contractual issues, particularly where a plan has been agreed but has not been delivered, shifts or trends in performance, and in particular the potential or actual issue of performance notices, or a pattern of issues. This may also include softer intelligence, which may include patterns of complaints or concerns by local users of the service, concerns by GPs or other stakeholders. Each of these may cause PCTs to have concerns about the broader governance of an NHS foundation trust, and may be a breach of the terms under which an NHS foundation trust is authorised. The terms of authorisation for all NHS foundation trusts can be found in the foundation trust directory.
If there are significant issues of which PCTs are aware or planning within the local health economy, for example, a major reconfiguration of services, Monitor would like to be made aware of these at an early stage. These can then be factored into our consideration of future risks and also we can help consider, with commissioners and providers, how these objectives may be best delivered to ensure continuity of high quality services.
The foundation trust map lists every foundation trust with its corresponding relationship manager at Monitor - their contact details can be found at the bottom of the map.