06 February 2004
The government's push to implement the controversial foundation hospitals plan was dealt an unexpected blow this week with the news that many of the leading trusts will not be given the status until July 1 at the earliest.
Last month, Health Secretary John Reid announced he would support the applications of 24 trusts and referred them to the new independent regulator for a final decision on the award of foundation status.
This week regulator Bill Moyes decided to divide the applicants into two groups of 12. He hoped to complete the assessment of the first group in time for successful applicants to become foundation trusts on April 1.
However, successful trusts in the second group will not become foundations until July 1. This group includes some of the most vocal backers of the initiative, including University College London Hospitals and University Hospitals Birmingham.
Both the regulator and the trusts in the second group sought to play down the significance of the move. Moyes said: 'The rigorous approach to the assessment process combined with the complexity of a number of the applicants means that certain applicants will require more time to assess than others.'
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals said the decision was not surprising, given the complex nature of its trust.
University Hospital Birmingham said it planned to set up in shadow form from April 1. Elections for the trust's new board of governors began this week and will run until the end of March.
'Waiting until July will give us a chance to get the new governors settled in,' a spokeswoman added.
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