Health written question – answered at on 12 January 2009.
Doug Henderson
Labour, Newcastle upon Tyne North
To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department plans to extend membership of NHS foundation hospital trusts' boards to members of the public; and whether a timescale has been produced for this policy.
Ben Bradshaw
Minister of State (Regional Affairs) (South West), The Minister of State, Department of Health
The constitution of both the board of governors and board of directors of a NHS Foundation Trust is set out in National Health Service Act 2006 schedule 7 sub 7, and sub 15 respectively.
Requirements for the board of governors include that more than half must be elected by the members, and at least three members must be elected by the staff Constituency. One member must be appointed by a primary care trust for which the FT provides services, and at least one member of the board must be appointed by a local authority. If any of the FT's hospitals includes a medical or dental scheme provided by a university, at least one of the board of governors must be appointed by that university. An organisation specified in the constitution as a partnership organisation may appoint a member of the board of governors also.
There are no plans to extend the membership of boards and therefore no timescale.
Yes1 person thinks so
No1 person thinks not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
