Four hospital trusts face having their management franchised to other hospitals, after the government said they had not done enough to improve services since receiving a "no star" rating in last year's hospital league tables.

Chief executives at the trusts face having to reapply for their positions, and could lose out to new management teams from other hospitals.

Forum Response: Unison

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, told ePolitix.com: "Unison welcomes the government's decision to call in the real experts to turn round failing hospitals. Those experts are currently working in the NHS providing beacons of good practice. They know the problems, they've experienced the waiting lists and they have introduced innovative and imaginative solutions to overcome them. There is no doubt that sharing these NHS managers will give a real boost to the hospitals and staff they are set to manage.

"The government should now let these managers get on with the job and prove their credentials before casting around in the private sector for other so called experts from outside. Unison has long argued that it is simply not the case that there is a wealth of private sector management expertise out there ready and willing to turn round failing hospitals, and that the best managers are NHS managers. Given the right resources, given the backing, the NHS has the expertise to heal itself and become a service we can all be proud of."