The report following the Care Quality Commission inspection at Wye Valley NHS Trust in July this year was published on Thursday, November 3rd.

Although NHS Improvement has agreed to lift the Trust out of special measures as a result of the significant improvements made the Trust is rated as “requires improvement”.

As well as Hereford County Hospital The Wye Valley Trust is also reposonible for Ross Community Hospital.

Richard Beeken, chief executive of the Trust said: “This outcome is great news for the residents of Herefordshire and those across our borders who use our services.”

“The report confirms that substantial improvements have been made in many areas – and once again our quality of care has been rated as good throughout the Trust.

Wye Valley NHS Trust has been buddied with South Warwickshire NHS FT since the beginning of the year to provide increased support as the Trust sought to address concerns raised by the CQC and make the required improvements.

The Wye Valley Trust has said that it is working with South Warwickshire NHS and NHS Improvement to explore options to put this support onto a more formal footing.

These discussions are at an advanced stage and it is hoped that an announcement on further details of this new partnership will be made shortly.

As a result of this proposed relationship between the two Trusts, WVT’s interim chairman, Mark Waller, will step down on Monday next week, November 7, and Russell Hardy, current chairman of SWFT, will become chairman of both Trusts.

Jeffrey Worrall, Delivery and Improvement Director at NHS Improvement, said: “We are pleased with the positive progress made by Wye Valley NHS Trust to its services for local patients. All staff members have worked extremely hard to achieve this outcome.

“We would like to thank the trust’s leadership team, led by Richard Beeken, for the contribution they have made to the work of the trust over the last two years.

“We must also recognise South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust’s support over the last few months which has helped Wye Valley to drive change and deliver the necessary improvements to its services.

“However, there is clearly more work to be done and we will continue to provide the trust with the necessary support to ensure it delivers the actions identified by the Care Quality Commission.”

MP Jesse Norman has raised concerns that a formal tie-up between WYT and SWFT may be developed without public consultation and has appealed for the public to be notified and consulted before this goes ahead.