WORCESTERSHIRE hospital bosses have unanimously agreed to put off re-activating their foundation trust application for the second time - but deny it is due to damning reports by the Care Quality Commission.

The decision to defer until April 2012 was taken at a meeting of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust’s Board yesterday.

Trust chairman Harry Turner said: “It is no secret that we face a significant financial challenge in 2011/12, as well as the challenge of rebuilding the confidence of our patients and the morale of our staff following the recent damaging CQC report.

“It is important to say that this decision has not been made as a result of the CQC report.However, we need absolutely no distractions and to demonstrate our absolute commitment to patient safety and quality of care, the decision to self-defer our FT application until the beginning of the new financial year is the right one to make.”

In February the board sought approval from regulator Monitor to extend the deferment period until August 2011, which has now been been extended until April 2012.

Mr Turner added: “We remain committed to becoming a foundation trust for the benefit of our patients, staff and stakeholders in the future and our members and governors still have an important role to play. We will be continuing to engage with them about the direction of the trust moving forward.”