UK. NHS Foundation Trusts

Citation

(2003), "UK. NHS Foundation Trusts", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 16 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2003.06216dab.003

UK. NHS Foundation Trusts

UK

NHS Foundation Trusts

Keywords: Public ownership, Health spending, NHS trusts

In March the Bill which sets out the terms under which NHS foundation trusts will operate had its first reading. The Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill will create a new form of public ownership – NHS Foundation Trusts, established as Public Benefit Corporations, which will have direct control and ownership of local hospitals exercised by local communities rather than through central state control. Public Benefit Corporations are an entirely new legal entity owned collectively by local people, staff and other stakeholders. The creation of NHS Foundation Trusts will remove central control over local hospitals within a framework of common, NHS-wide national standards. Foundation hospital boards will be made up of governors elected locally rather than appointed by central government.

The Bill is also intended to ensure better value and greater transparency for spending on health and social care – through two new independent commissions – the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection and the Commission for Social Care Inspection – with the powers to inspect standards, audit spending and report on the quality of health and social care provision in the public, private and voluntary sectors. The Commission for Health-care Audit and Inspection will report to the public on the extra services, improved quality and better care they can expect from the rising levels of investment now going in. For the first time private sector health care will also be subject to the same inspection regime as NHS hospitals.

The Bill will also bring the provision of NHS dentistry, including General Dental Services, in England and Wales under the aegis of Primary Care Trusts in England and Local Health Boards in Wales which will take responsibility for commissioning NHS dental services. It will also modify Personal Dental Services arrangements and abolish the Dental Practice Board. It also allows the NHS to recover treatment and ambulance costs from organisations which compensate injured people.

Health Secretary, Alan Milburn said: "This Bill is about strengthening the link between local communities and their local health services. Within four or five years every NHS hospital will be able to become an NHS Foundation Trust."