NHS foundation trust

NHS foundation trusts are semi-autonomous organisational units within the National Health Service in England. They have a degree of independence from the Department of Health (and, until the abolition of SHAs in 2013, their local strategic health authority). As of March 2014 there were 147 NHS Foundation Trusts

Inspiration

Alan Milburn's trip in 2001 to the Hospital Universitario Fundación Alcorcón in Spain is thought to have been influential in developing ideas around foundation status. The hospital was built by the Spanish National Health System, but its operational management is contracted out to a private company, and exempt from many of the rules normally imposed on state-owned hospitals, and in particular, the hospital was allowed to negotiate its own contracts with workers. The governance of the hospital includes local government, trade unions, health workers and community groups.

History

Foundation trusts were announced by Health Secretary Alan Milburn in 2002. The first 10 NHS hospitals to become foundation trusts were announced in 2004.Gordon Brown prevented plans by Alan Milburn that they should be financially autonomous in 2002. By the end of 2012, the Monitor website listed 144 Foundation Trusts.

NHS

NHS may refer to:

Healthcare

United Kingdom

Four state-funded healthcare systems providing services that are free at the point of use

The term National Health Service is also used to refer to the four services collectively.

Canada

Schools

Other uses

Foundation

Foundation may refer to:

Organizations

Literature

Music

Trust

Trust may refer to:

Business and legal

Music

Bands

Albums

Emergency department

An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident & emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of patients who present without prior appointment; either by their own means or by that of an ambulance. The emergency department is usually found in a hospital or other primary care center.

Due to the unplanned nature of patient attendance, the department must provide initial treatment for a broad spectrum of illnesses and injuries, some of which may be life-threatening and require immediate attention. In some countries, emergency departments have become important entry points for those without other means of access to medical care.

The emergency departments of most hospitals operate 24 hours a day, although staffing levels may be varied in an attempt to reflect patient volume.

History

Accident services were already provided by workmen's compensation plans, railway companies, and municipalities in Europe and the United States by the late mid-nineteenth century, but the first specialized trauma care center in the world was opened in 1911 in the United States at the University of Louisville Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, and was developed by surgeon Arnold Griswold during the 1930s. Griswold also equipped police and fire vehicles with medical supplies and trained officers to give emergency care while en route to the hospital.