THE CHAIRMAN of Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) says it  is “disappointing” that financial modelling showed none of  the options for the future of Wye Valley NHS Trust as viable.

But  Dr Andy Watts stressed the CCG’s commitment to working with the Trust on shaping health care in the county.

“While it is disappointing that financial modelling shows that none of the options will provide the essential financial stability, our project to develop a clinical strategy will dovetail with the Trust’s work to secure its future form,” said Dr Watts.

“The work carried out by the Trust to explore the options and their implications has been extremely valuable.  Our GPs are working closely with hospital clinicians to scrutinise hospital services, focusing on getting the best medical outcomes for patients and making them more affordable in the long-run,” he said.

The Hereford Times revealed yesterday (Mon) that the Trust was ready to reject a range of options explored over the past year to secure its  future. The Trust Board is expected to make that decision final when it meets on Thursday.

Backed by a cash boost that means it can break even by the end of the current financial year, the cash-strapped Trust  can now fight for a future on its own terms.

Over the latter half of last year each option was tested as to its financial liability. The Trust board will hear on Thursday  that none of the options were likely to meet the stringent criteria for NHS approval.

Now, the focus of the Trust shifts to securing short-term survival. Confirmation of £9m coming from the Trust Development Agency (TDA) means WVT, facing a £15m deficit without support, can end the financial year at break even.

The Trust is also ready to go into talks with the TDA and the CCG over what the short to medium term may mean in terms of services and finances.

On-going funding issues - previously reported by the Hereford Times - mean WVT cannot achieve foundation trust (FT) status this year, as required by the government.

Without support the Trust was on course for an overspend of at least £9m on this year’s budget.

The Trust required increasing levels of support over recent years just to reach a break even position, with £9.8m needed over 2012/13 alone.

In 2012 the Trust was declared as in “turnaround” to emphasise the urgency and scale of the financial challenges it faced.

Under the options, WVT faced a merger with an existing  FT, a break up with services run by a range of public and private sector providers, or a future as private sector franchise.