The latest wave of foundation hospitals was signalled today when the health secretary, John Reid, unveiled a list of 20 more applicant trusts.
The announcement follows shortly after a disappointing star ratings performance which saw 11 of the 34 original applicants automatically knocked out after they lost their crucial three-star rating criteria. Only three-star rated acute and specialist trusts are able to apply for foundation status.
Two other trusts - Mid-Staffordshire general hospitals NHS trust, and Winchester and Eastleigh healthcare NHS trust - dropped out at an earlier point before star ratings were announced last week. Only South Devon healthcare NHS trust saw its application turned down.
NHS foundation trusts remain fully part of the NHS, but have greater management and financial freedoms to retain surpluses and to invest in delivery of new services. Foundation trusts are not subject to direction by the health secretary, but are overseen by an independent regulator.
The latest 20 applications will now go to the regulator, who is expected to approve them in two batches, with 10 expected to gain foundation status in November 2004, and the remaining 10 being considered in readiness for February 2005.
Only 20 foundation trusts are up and running so far, following their launch in April this year.
Announcing the latest list of hospitals now eligible to apply to the independent regulator, the health secretary, John Reid, also formally confirmed that mental health trusts can apply for the next wave of applications in September.
However, these will not be considered for approval until September 2005 at the earliest, following a promised review on the foundation trust scheme by the NHS watchdog, the Healthcare Commission, prior to a full roll-out by 2008.
The invitation to mental health trusts coincides with a poor star performance ratings for the sector, with twice as many trusts as last year awarded no stars, and only small improvements in the other categories.
Mr Reid said today: "This marks another important step on the road to decentralisation, freeing up the NHS from day-to-day Whitehall control and giving local patients more power. We're committed to ensuring that all trusts have NHS foundation status by 2008.
"The department will continue to work with all those NHS trusts which have deferred their applications or have not secured a three-star rating with a view to them obtaining approval to go forward at the next earliest opportunity."
The announcement comes as the DoH caused furore by announcing that foundation trust hospitals will no longer be bound by ethical recruitment guidance imposed on the NHS by the government to prevent hospitals actively poaching staff from developing countries.
