East Lancashire Hospitals NHS TrustFoundation Trust Application
We are pleased to announce that we have now formally agreed our new Foundation Trust authorisation timetable with the Strategic Health Authority and the Department of Health as part of a tripartite formal agreement. The Trust is currently on track for authorisation in March/ April 2013.
The tripartite formal agreement has been signed by all parties (including commissioners) and can be accessed by following the link below.
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Key milestones in our Foundation Trust authorisation timetable include:
March/ April 2012
Trust formally enters SHA-led Trust Development Phase
May - August 2012
Public Consultation is carried out
1st October 2012
Trust formally enters Secretary of State Support Phase
November/ December 2012
Trust formally enters Monitor Assessment Phase
December 2012 – February 2013
Election of Governors takes place
March/ April 2013
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is authorised as a Foundation Trust
Benefits of NHS Foundation Trust status:
Accountable to local people, patients, service users and staff, who can become members or governors. The governors have a duty to appoint non-executive directors to the trust board, enabling local ownership and service influence whilst maintaining local accountability;
Free to retain and build up surpluses that they generate and decide how to use these funds for the benefit of patients, service users and the communities they serve;
Able to borrow from commercial sources within limits set by Monitor, but their capital requirements are not subject to central determination or prioritisation; and
Able to more easily restructure and modernise in order to increase or decrease service capacity whilst maintaining effectiveness and efficiency.
Further information will be issued in due course, however, should any members of the public have any questions or comments then please contact ftenquiries@elht.nhs.uk
You can also keep an eye on our Trust Board papers for updates against our FT plans