NHS Foundation Trusts

Foundation trusts are a new type of NHS hospital run by local managers, staff and members of the public. They are tailored to the needs of the local population. Foundation trusts have been given much more financial and operational freedom than other NHS trusts and represent the government's de-centralisation of public services. These trusts remain within the NHS and its performance inspection system.

The governance of the Foundation Trust has three main components:

1. A membership comprising of public and staff
2. A members' council
3. A board of directors

The following diagram shows the organisational structure of a typical board of directors & members Council:

There will be the same number of Non-executive directors as Executive directors (usually this is around 6 of each).

An example of the titles of the 6 Executive Directors:-

1. Chief Executive
2. Director of Operations
3. Medical Director
4. Director of Nursing Services
5. Director of Finance
6. Director of Human Resources