Your hospitals, your say – public meeting for NHS Foundation Trust application

People can find out more about plans for the region's busiest hospital trust to become an NHS Foundation Trust at a meeting in public being held by the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Patient and Public Involvement Forum.

Every year the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust treats more than 600,000 patients from across Norfolk, orth Suffolk and neighbouring counties.

The Patient and Public Involvement Forum meeting takes place at the Assembly House, Theatre Street, Norwich from 10am on Tuesday June 19. Directors from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital will be at the meeting to take questions.

Local people across Norfolk and Waveney and staff who work at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust are being consulted on proposals to become an NHS Foundation Trust in January 2008. People can also register their views and express an interest in becoming a member via www.nnuh.nhs.uk/page/ft

Chairman David Prior said: “Our hospitals are among the top-performing in the country and we see the main benefits of becoming a Foundation Trust as being able to work more closely with our community and our partners to design services according to local, rather than national, needs and having more freedom from Whitehall. Ultimately, we believe this will improve patient care by allowing us to deliver innovative services in a more timely and responsive way.”

NHS Foundation Trusts are new 'public benefit' organisations with the purpose of providing NHS healthcare. NHS foundation trusts are not controlled by Whitehall but are accountable to local people and to an independent regulator. The trust's hospitals (Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and Cromer and District Hospital) will remain in the National Health Service and subject to NHS standards, and inspection regimes.

NHS Foundation Trusts have a membership that includes local residents who live within the trust’s local area, and members of staff. There will be a council of governors and a board of directors. The council of governors will be elected by the membership of the NHS Foundation Trust to represent their interests at strategic level. The board of directors will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the hospital.

The consultation runs until July 13 and the feedback from staff, patients, public and partner organisations will be studied and become part of our application to the Department of Health for NHS Foundation Trust status in August. If the Secretary of State approves the application it will then go to the Foundation Trust regulator Monitor for consideration in autumn 2007.