Monitor - Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts

AFTER FOUNDATION HOSPITALS were created as part of a process of decentralising NHS funding to local areas, the job of setting these up and supervising them was handed to independent regulator Monitor. These new trusts have full budgetary control at local level and Monitor can intervene if they perform badly. Last year, for example, the organisation removed the chairman of Colchester's foundation hospital from his post, citing its "fragile" performance. Judging by its own internal reports and according to our staff survey, Monitor is healthy and well. It ranks fourth overall for employee Wellbeing among all listed public sector organisations (69% positive). It offers a Fair Deal (68%, and ninth overall) and it notched up an overall ranking of sixth for Giving Something Back (70%), with profit concerns not the main driver (86%, and a top score among small public sector bodies), and with support of good causes more important than the publicity (68%, ranking second). The regulator may have secured a much higher position overall had it received more glowing assessments for the My Manager (63%) and My Team (65%) factors, ranking 69th and 73rd among our 75 listed bodies. When asked if their manager helped them to fulfil their potential, employees gave a 58% positive score, with 54% for motivating them to give their best, both these questions ranking Monitor second lowest among small bodies. However the 97 staff are not under too much pressure to get the job done (73%) and have realistic deadlines (69%), both ranking second. They aren't stressed (74%) or taken advantage of (61%, a top three score). With an average annual pay packet of £61,423 and a typical age of 36, employees feel fairly paid for their duties (68%, and the top score for this question) and are happy with their pay and benefits (73%, ranking second). Monitor, which was established in 2004 and now supervises 126 NHS foundation trusts, also scrutinises its own success in another key area — protecting the environment. It has set targets to reduce energy consumption, waste sent to landfill and the amount of paper it uses, and staff feel it does all of this well (62%, a top 10 score). www.monitor-nhsft.gov.uk