05 October 2007
The NHS foundation trust regulator Monitor has approved four more trusts for foundation status and streamlined its approval process as NHS trusts race to meet the nominal April 2008 deadline.
The four new trusts approved on October 1 were: Lincolnshire, North Essex and Cumbria partnership mental health trusts, and Milton Keynes Hospital. They have now been freed from strategic health authority direction and are able to retain their operating surpluses for reinvestment.
Monitor chair William Moyes said: 'What we ask is that to be an NHS foundation trust you must be financially viable, well managed and legally constituted. We do not think that is beyond any NHS trust, but we recognise some are in a stronger position that others.'
The government has said it wants all NHS trusts to become foundations by April 2008. But up to 163 have still not gained the status, leading Monitor to amend its authorisation process. Applications will now be 'batched', so that those with the fewest financial and governance problems are assessed first, giving others longer to resolve any outstanding problems, including underlying deficits.
Monitor has also slashed the time usually permitted for an application deferral from 12 to three months, hoping this will mean applications will be made only from trusts that are already close to meeting the required standards.
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