Guide to special measures
Explains the special measures programme for NHS trusts and foundation trusts.
Special measures apply when NHS trusts and foundation trusts have serious problems and there are concerns that the existing leadership cannot make the necessary improvements without support.
They consist of a set of interventions designed to remedy problems within a reasonable timeframe. Trusts may be placed in special measures as a result of serious failures in quality of care and/or serious financial problems.
Special measures for quality reasons: guidance for trusts
This guidance, jointly produced by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and NHS Improvement, describes how special measures work for quality reasons. It explains:
- why trusts are placed in special measures for quality reasons
- the process for entering special measures
- what will happen to trusts during special measures and how long special measures are intended to last
- the roles and responsibilities of key organisations involved
- when and how trusts will exit special measures, including the relationship between quality and financial performance
- if and how a trust can re-enter special measures
Special measures for finance reasons: guidance for trusts
Our guide describes how special measures work for financial reasons. It explains:
- why trusts are placed in special measures for financial reasons
- how NHS Improvement places a trust in special measures for financial reasons
- what happens to trusts in special measures for financial reasons
- removing trusts from special measures
Trusts in special measures
| Trust names | Reason/s in special measures |
| Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust | Financial |
| Barts Health NHS Trust | Financial |
| East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | Financial |
| East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust | Financial |
| Isle of Wight NHS Trust | Financial and quality |
| King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Financial |
| Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust | Quality |
| Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Quality |
| Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust | Financial and quality |
| The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust | Quality |
| Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust | Quality |
| Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust | Quality |
| South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust | Quality |
| St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Financial and quality |
| United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust | Financial and quality |
| University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust | Financial |
| Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust | Quality |
| Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust | Quality |