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David Flory to lead NHS Trust Development Authority

03/02/12

NHS deputy chief executive, David Flory, is to become the first head of the body tasked with creating an all-foundation-trust provider sector.

Flory – who is also NHS director-general of finance, performance and operations – will take up the post when the NHS Trust Development Authority (NTDA) becomes fully operational in April 2013. He will continue in post as NHS deputy chief executive until March 2013.

The DH outlined initial proposals about how the NTDA will operate and how it will be organised at the start of the year. Click here to view the document.

There are currently 112 NHS trusts in the foundation trust pipeline, providing roughly £31 billion in services.

Currently, the SHA clusters and the DH are responsible for shepherding their trusts through the Monitor assessment process. The chief executive of every NHS trust has had to sign an agreement setting out a timetable indicating when they will apply for foundation trust status.

Analysis of these documents shows that most trusts intend to submit their applications to the DH during 2013. If the DH approves them, it will then pass them to Monitor to continue the process.

Commenting on his appointment into the role, David Flory said:

‘We have a really challenging couple of years ahead and I want to continue to make my own contribution to ensuring a smooth transition with the establishment of this important new organisation.’

In the interim period, the NTDA will have the power to appoint chairs and non-executive directors from October this year, having been legally established in June as a special health authority.

The DH said it still has a ‘strong expectation’ that ‘the majority’ of NHS trusts will achieve foundation trust status by April 2014, but several are now predicting they will fail to achieve this.

The document released in January, Building the NHS Trust Development Authority, said:

‘As with all new arm’s-length bodies, the NTDA will be subject to review of the continued need for it to remain in existence, and this is likely to take place in 2016.’