Minister back foundation trust applications

The government has backed the recent applications from 17 NHS trusts to gain foundation status.

Lord Warner, minister for reform, has declared his support for the applications, which have also been welcomed by the secretary of state. The applications will now be assessed by the independent NHS foundation trusts regulator, Monitor.

The regulator will assess the applications against its stringent standards and will issue a decision on which trusts will receive authorisation of foundation status from next spring.

Lord Warner commented that the announcement was a crucial step in enabling all NHS trusts the opportunity to gain foundation trust status as soon as possible.

“As the number of NHS foundation trusts increases, more people will be served by NHS services over which the public, patients and staff will have real rights and a real say in how healthcare is delivered,” he said.

He added that the concept of foundation trusts in the NHS was at the centre of the government’s agenda of reform, expansion and investment into the NHS.

The government describes NHS Foundation Trusts as being at the “cutting edge” of government plans to decentralise the NHS and make it more patient led.