The Whole Health Community Diagnostic Programme
Not all NHS Trusts are in a position to achieve NHS Foundation Trust status straight away. To help improve the ability of all Trusts to understand what they needed to do to submit a successful NHS Foundation Trust application, a developmental programme was established by the 28 former Strategic Health Authorities, Monitor and The Department of Health.
The Whole Health Community Diagnostic Programme has been developed to test certain elements of the performance of acute Trusts, predominantly those elements that form part of the NHS Foundation Trust authorisation process. Most of the work was done by Trusts themselves, by self- assessment, using a set of diagnostic “tools” developed for the programme and supported by the expertise of Monitor, independent consultants and the Department of Health.
This project saw Strategic Health Authorities, supported by the Department of Health, Monitor and external consultants, working with their PCTs and NHS acute and specialist Trusts on an analytical exercise to ‘diagnose’ the challenges that the NHS Trusts face to achieve NHS Foundation Trust status, including challenges in the wider health economy that Trusts cannot address alone. Having diagnosed the challenges, Strategic Health Authorities and NHS acute and specialist Trusts then agreed an action plan with a specified timetable for each Trust to address those challenges and to work towards NHS Foundation Trust status.
Following the successful roll out to acute and specialist trusts the programme was adapted to meet the needs of mental health trusts and rolled out by the SHAs to mental health trusts.
