AN investigation into the finances of the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust found it was in breach of its licence to provide services to patients, it has emerged.

Yesterday, health watchdog Monitor said it found the trust had breached its agreement to provide services by failing to have a stable financial recovery plan and long-term patient care plan in place.

It said the trust "lacked both a robust financial recovery plan and a plan to ensure it continues to provide services for patients in the long term".

The probe was triggered in October last year after it emerged the trust was facing a £2.9 million deficit for last year, with Monitor looking into plans to address the issue.

Now, the watchdog has said the trust needs to increase efficiency, citing how it manages money it spends on agency staff, and how effectively it discharges patients once their treatment is complete, and that it would be monitoring progress and will "take further action if necessary".

In February, it was revealed trust spending on agency staff rose from £360,546 in Q2 2012/13 to £1,877,083 the following year — a jump of more than £1.5m, before falling to £1.4 million, with the extra costs attributed to a nurse shortage.

In a statement yesterday, the trust said it would be providing assurances to Monitor over the coming months that plans were in place to address the issues.

“Over the coming months we will be providing assurances to Monitor, the regulator for health services in England, that we have plans to improve our financial position,” the trust said in a statement.

“We have been working with Monitor since October and have agreed to a series of actions to improve our financial performance, sustainability and governance,” it said.

“We will also be developing a financial recovery plan to get our books back into balance, but it will take time.

“Despite our financial position, no concerns have been raised about the quality of treatment and care we provide to patients.

“Our finances are a big challenge which cannot be fixed alone. Together with our local health and social care partners we must address the increasing demand for healthcare.

“We are already working with other local health and social care organisations to ensure that patients can leave hospital when they no longer need this level of care, making space for those who do.

“Over the coming months we will be providing assurances to Monitor that we have the capacity and capability to build a financially secure future, whilst maintaining safe and high quality patient care.”

Monitor said it had been working to address the issues with the trust, as well as health partners.

“The health regulator found the trust in breach of its licence to provide services to patients in Swindon and Wiltshire, because it lacked both a robust financial recovery plan and a plan to ensure it continues to provide services for patients in the long term,” a statement said.

“In particular, the trust needs to increase its efficiency, for example with how well it manages the money it spends on agency staff, and how effectively it discharges patients once their treatment is complete.

“In recognition that the trust can’t fix all of these problems alone, Monitor has been coordinating action between local health organisations to help reduce costs while ensuring patients across Swindon and Wiltshire continue to receive services.

“Monitor will continue to scrutinise the trust’s performance as it delivers plans to fix its problems, and will take further action for patients if necessary. What’s important is that we will hold them to account on this, we’re not just taking regulatory action, they need to make these improvements.”

In October, chief executive of the trust, Nerissa Vaughan, said a growing demand on services was behind the rise in costs.

“At the same time, we are also spending money on agency staff, which is expensive, but necessary, to ensure we have the right number of staff, in the right places.

“We have plans in place to reduce our deficit, but the remainder of the year will be a challenge.”