Top QC advises borough council against legal action over hospital changes

Councillors at Stafford Borough Council will next week consider legal advice from a leading QC that the authority should not bring legal action over the transfer of services from Stafford Hospital at the current time.

A special meeting has been called for 12 January to discuss the advice from David Wolfe QC of Matrix Chambers.

Stafford BC agreed at an extraordinary meeting in 2014 to appoint lawyers to look in to the legality of the steps being taken to transfer key services from the hospital to Stoke.

The Health Secretary had in February 2014 decided to adopt the recommendations of the Trust Special Administrator with regard to the dissolution of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and the decommissioning of certain services at Stafford Hospital.

The services affected at Stafford include maternity, paediatric and consultant-led obstetrics.

Stafford Borough Council had been concerned to ensure the adequacy and safety of services at Stafford Hospital and sought legal advice on the lawfulness of the Secretary of State’s decision.

Two previous applications by ‘third parties’ to have a judicial review of the decision to follow the recommendations of the Trust Special Administrators were refused by the High Court.

This corroborated the council’s own legal advice at the time that the Health Secretary’s decision itself was within his lawful remit.

Since then lawyers on behalf of the borough council have scrutinised the process carried out by the University Hospitals North Midlands NHS Trust and the legality of their plans to implement the proposed transfer of services. The report from David Wolfe QC was also commissioned.

The report prepared for next week’s meeting (12 January) said: “It has to be accepted…. that the Secretary of State’s decision to transfer certain services at Stafford has already been taken, has already been unsuccessfully challenged in court and is now out of time for further legal challenge.

“The implementation of that decision is still on-going and subject to legal scrutiny. The council has closely scrutinised the steps being taken by UHNM to implement that decision and is advised that there is no basis for a legal challenge at present. However, the implementation should continue to be scrutinised to ensure it is carried out in accordance with accepted recommendations.”