Frequently Asked Questions

NHS Foundation Trusts will be NHS hospitals, fully part of the National Health Service, but with greater freedom to run their own affairs. They will be controlled locally not nationally. Freeing NHS Foundation Trusts from day to day Whitehall control will encourage greater local innovation in how services are delivered.

A million strong health services cannot be run from Whitehall. Instead, having put national standards and inspection in place, the Government now wants to liberate the talents of frontline staff.

NHS Foundation Trusts are part of our NHS Plan reform programme to open up the system so that it provides more responsive services to patients. Securing sustained improvements in NHS performance can only happen when staff have more control and local communities have a bigger say over how hospitals are run.

Direct elections by local people and local staff of hospital governors will enable local hospitals to be better focused on meeting the needs of the local communities they serve. Strengthening public ownership by making NHS Foundation hospitals more locally accountable will particularly help improve services in poorer areas.

• All employees of the Trust, plus staff of other organisations who have provided services to the Hospitals Trust for more than 12 months.
  
  
• Anyone who lives in Gloucestershire
  
  
• Patients, including those who live outside Gloucestershire but who have received treatment in one of the Trust’s hospitals within the last three years, and all future patients.
  

As a Member you:

• Are interested in your local NHS hospitals and you want to have a say in how they are run.
  
  
• Will be consulted from time to time on plans for changes to Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust.
  
  
• Will not have to do lots of form-filling or going to meetings. However you will be able to give your views on a variety of issues relevant to the running of our hospitals.
  
  
• Can elect your representatives to serve on the Council of Governors.
  
  
• Can stand for election to the Council of Governors (to find out more about Governors, Dial Freephone 0800 953 1392).
  
  
• Can put yourself forward to be a non-executive director.
  

• Being a Member is free – you will not have to pay a fee and you won’t be asked to be involved in fund-raising.
  
  
• As a Member you will not bear any financial or legal responsibility for the work of the Trust, that remains with the Trust’s Main Board of Executive Directors.
  
  
• If you are an employee of the Trust you can be a Staff Member but not a Public Member.
  
  
• Members will not receive a ‘dividend’, bonus or any special benefits in terms of NHS care or treatment.
  
  
• There will be a cost implication to the Trust of having Members and Governors, however the Trust believes this is an important investment and will bring about more local accountability. The financial benefits of Foundation Trust status will more than outweigh the costs to the Trust of members.
  

Who can be a Governor?

When elections are called any Member can nominate themselves to become a Governor.

They will be elected to represent their local area or group of staff – their constituency (see below).

Who sits on the Council of Governors?

There are 23 places on the Council of Governors, with Public, Patient, Staff and Stakeholder representatives.

The list below shows the makeup of the Council of Governors.

Public Governors

2 – Cheltenham
2 – Cotswolds
2 - Forest of Dean
2 – Gloucester
2 – Stroud
2 – Tewkesbury

Patient Governor

1 – representing patients treated in Gloucestershire over the past three years but from out of county.

Stakeholder Governors

2 – from local Primary Care Trusts
1 – from a Local Authority in Gloucestershire
1 – from the a Patients Forum (to be confirmed)

Staff Governors

1 – Medical and Dental Governor
2 – Nursing and midwifery Governors
1 – Allied Health Professional and other clinical/ Scientific/ Technical staff Governor
2 – Other groups of staff

As a Governor, you will:

• Be invited to attend at least three Council of Governors meetings per year.
  
  
• be consulted on plans for changes to the health service locally.
  
  
• be consulted about any areas of special interest that you have.
  
  
• be prepared to meet with and speak to Members in your constituency to hear their views.
  
  
• receive user-friendly information to keep you up to date with the work of the Trust.
  
  
• Appoint the Chair and Non-Executive Directors of the Trust and approve the appointment of the Chief Executive.
  

• You will receive out of pocket expenses but not a salary.
  
  
• The Term of Office will normally be three years and for a maximum of nine years.
  
  
• Governors will not receive a ‘dividend’, bonus or any special NHS treatment.
  
  
• You don’t need to have experience of formal meetings. Training and support will be given.
  
  
• Some conditions prohibit election as a Governor for a few people. These are fully listed in the Constitution which is available on the website.
  

A Notice of Election will be pulished in the FT Newsletter and on the Trust's website notifying vacancies as they arise in each constituency. You may then apply for nomination Governor Nomination Pack which will include a nomination form.

Is Agenda for Change happening because of the NHS Foundation Trust application?

No. Agenda for change is being implemented into every NHS Trust in the country, and will apply to staff of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust from October 2004. Specific work has started to ensure that the Agenda for Change process is carried out smoothly.

Will being a Foundation Trust affect my pension?

No. As an employee of an NHS Foundation Trust, you will continue to have access to the NHS Pension Scheme and the associated benefits.

Will being a Foundation Trust make any real difference for staff?

Yes. The Trust believes that becoming an NHS Foundation Trust will ease the pressure on staff and it will also mean that the Trust has access to more funding.

An NHS Foundation Trust will give staff the freedom to be able to deliver the healthcare that is most appropriate to our local circumstances without Whitehall interference or bureaucracy. We believe that an NHS Foundation Trust will feel like a different, better, place to work.

Staff will have rights to have their say in how the hospitals are run and will have the right to elect and stand for election to the Board of Governors.

No. NHS Foundation Trusts will uphold the values and principles of the NHS and protect high standards for the NHS. They will have to meet the same national standards as the rest of the NHS and they will be paid the same national tariff rates as other NHS hospitals

No. NHS Foundation Trusts will be under a legal duty to co-operate and to implement national NHS standards. In the Tories internal market there were no national standards. What is more hospitals competed against each other on price. In fact such competition is being removed from the NHS. To coincide with the creation of NHS Foundation Trusts the Government is introducing a new system whereby hospitals are all paid according to a national tariff. That means that hospitals won't be able to compete on price. The freedoms being made available to NHS Foundation Trusts are about encouraging innovation, not competition.

No. NHS Foundation Trusts will be fully a part of the NHS and locked into public ownership.
The care NHS Foundation Trusts provide to NHS patients will be delivered on the basis of need not ability to pay and will be free at the point of use.
NHS Foundation Trusts will be legally required to use the assets they hold in ways that promote their primary purpose of providing NHS care to NHS patients. They will be subject to NHS standards and NHS systems of inspection and bound by a legal duty to work in co-operation with others to improve the quality of health care throughout the NHS.
NHS Foundation Trusts offer a new form of social ownership modelled on co-operative and mutual traditions. Accountability to the local community will replace central state control.

No, the amount of private work undertaken by our hospitals will be limited by the laws which govern Foundation Trusts. We will still be very much a part of the NHS with free care at the point of delivery.

If something seriously goes wrong it will be the responsibility, initially of the Trust itself to take appropriate remedial action. If the situation continues or becomes more serious the Independent Regulator will have the statutory power to intervene.

The Trust will be able to access more capital investment, and would use this in order to improve the buildings, general surroundings and equipment needed to provide high quality care.
The Trust will also have freedoms to be able to make investments where the local need is highest and according to local priorities.

The Foundation Trust application has no impact on Standish Hospital.
Standish Hospital in Stonehouse is currently part of the Trust's premises, but later this year, when the new Gloucestershire Royal Hospital extension is open, the services provided at Standish Hospital will be transferred to Gloucestershire Royal. Standish Hospital is not owned by the hospitals trust.

If you have a question which isn’t answered here, please email: E-Mail

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Phone: 0800 953 1392