Tender deadline for NHS acquisition

Nick Wood, Chief Executive of Weston Area Health NHS Trust said:

“The tender submission from Taunton will now go through a strict and intensive evaluation process. This closely scrutinises the business case against the clinical, financial and service delivery objectives set by Weston and the NHS Trust Development Authority.  A decision will then be made about whether the case meets the essential criteria needed to progress further along the acquisition process.

“We feel it is important to stress at this point that the outcome of whether Taunton will acquire Weston is still very much unknown and will not be known for some time.

“We will of course ensure that staff, patients and the public are kept informed of progress and decisions as they happen.”

The anticipated schedule (please note this is subject to change):

Stage One: Evaluation

• November – December 2014: Weston announces the outcome of the evaluation.

Stage Two: Approval

(Will only take place after approval is given at Stage Two)

• December 2014 – January 2015: Monitor, Department of Health, NHS Trust Development Authority approve the business case. It also has to get parliamentary and Competition and Markets Authority approval.

• Please note that unless approval is given by these organisations any acquisition cannot take place.

Stage Three: Transition

(Will only take place if approval is given at Stage Two)

• January 2015: Anticipated that a transition process with the successful Trust begins.
• Summer 2015: Anticipated that the acquisition process will be complete.

*The two other Trusts who submitted a formal expression of interest were Somerset Partnership Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Bristol.