The NHS Oversight Framework is NHS England’s way of checking how well NHS trusts are performing and where extra help might be needed. Trusts are placed into one of five groups, with Group 1 being the best performing and Group 5 the most challenged.
There is also a financial rule. If a trust has a planned budget deficit, it cannot be placed higher than Group 3, no matter how well it does in other areas.
Gateshead Health is in Group 3 due to the application of the financial override because we have a planned deficit in this financial year. We have been open about this through our Securing Our Sustainable Future programme, which is our commitment to restore financial balance while continuing to provide safe, high-quality care.
In other areas, our performance is strong. In the first quarter of 2025/26, results show strong performance in patient safety, cancer care and workforce engagement, with good scores across many other areas.
Our priority remains to provide safe, high-quality care for the people of Gateshead while making sure our finances and services are sustainable for the future.