Monitor and TDA to move towards single leadership model

The government has announced that a single leader will be chosen to lead Monitor and the Trust Development Authority (TDA).

This move will enable closer working between the two regulatory bodies and will make it easier to provide increased support to hospitals to continue to improve care and boost efficiency, with safety enshrined as a key priority.

All NHS providers will be under the oversight of one chief executive, ensuring they receive the same kind of support and are subject to the same sort of interventionary action if their performance falls below standard.

The respective chairs of Monitor and the TDA, David Bennett and Bob Alexander, have been asked to run an open and competitive process to identify a chief executive, with a choice to be confirmed by the end of the year.

Mr Bennett will remain in place to steer the transition for Monitor, but has confirmed he will step down in due course.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "This is an exciting opportunity for the people at Monitor and TDA to combine their respective skills to create a world class capability to support NHS providers."