South London Healthcare NHS Trust to be dissolved

The government has announced that it will be dissolving the South London Healthcare NHS Trust, the most financially challenged NHS trust in England.

It is estimated that the organisation is losing more than one million pounds every week, leading NHS medical director Professor Bruce Keogh to advise that the trust be closed in order to prevent more money from being drawn away from patients elsewhere.

Each of its hospitals will be taken over by a neighbouring hospital trust, while all empty or poorly-utilised premises will be vacated or sold off wherever possible, a process that will be carried out between June and October 2013.

The trust was created in 2009 through the merger of three smaller organisations but has since encountered longstanding financial problems that have not been solved despite numerous attempts, leading health secretary Jeremy Hunt to conclude that its abolition is the best option.

He said: "The decisions I have taken today will ensure … that patients in South East London will be able to rely on the NHS for years to come."