Foundation Trust
Q. What is a foundation trust?
A. Foundation trusts are still part of the NHS, and we’ll still have NHS inspections and standards to meet. It just means we will be accountable to our members, largely made up of people from our local community, instead of the Secretary of State.
Being a foundation trust will also give us more financial freedom and a real opportunity to better plan services, now and in the future.
Q. How will being a foundation trust change services?
A. Through listening to its members. As a foundation trust, our members will be given a much stronger voice within the organisation and will be able to tell us how to make things better.
Q. Why has the timescale for foundation trust status changed?
A. We originally consulted about our plans at the end of 2008 and into the early part of 2009.
Since then, there have been a number of changes within the Trust which prevented us from progressing our application such as the transfer of community services to the Trust and the transfer out of some of our learning disability services.
Q. What happens if you don’t become a foundation trust?
A. The Government has made it clear that it expects that majority of the remaining NHS Trusts to become foundation trusts by April 2014. It will not be an option to stay as an NHS Trust so those that do not become foundation trusts won’t exist in their current form.
Q. I notice in your plans there is an out of area category in the consultation. Is this really necessary?
A. Yes, because as well as providing services to people living in Bradford, Airedale and Craven, we also provide some specialist services to people living in other parts of Yorkshire and Humber. It’s important we get their views too.
Q. Why isn’t there a service user/patient/carer category in your plans? How can they be involved?
A. The transfer of community health services has meant that our service user base is much broader than just mental health and learning disability clients.
During the earlier consultation some mental health service users were in favour of a separate service user category so their views would be heard separate to the general public. Others were against on the grounds they did not want to be stigmatised as a different group. We are proposing that additional Public Governor places will provide a greater opportunity for all service users to be represented and we will be encouraging people to put members forward to become Governors.
Members
Q. How many members do we need to become a foundation trust?
A. Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS foundation trust, doesn’t give a figure, it’s more we set our own target. We wanted at least 1 per cent of the populations of Craven and Bradford combined which meant our target was 5,500 non-staff members.
We now have over 7,000 non-staff members.
Q. Do you have a representative membership?
A. We currently have over 7,000 members spread across Bradford, Airedale, Craven and other parts of the country.
We regularly monitor membership to make sure it is representative of all areas. At the moment, we want to increase membership in Craven.
Q. I’m not a member. How can I become one?
A. Staff will become members automatically when we become a foundation trust (unless they choose to opt out).
For more information about being a member please click here.
The public can become a member by clicking here.
Anyone wishing to discuss membership can contact our Foundation Trust Office on Tel: 01274 363 552 or email ft@bdct.nhs.uk
Q. Will members be accountable to the Trust?
A. No, the Trust will be accountable to its members.
Q. How will members influence the Trust?
A. Through their Governor. Governors represent members and help influence services. They also hold our Trust Board to account.
Governors will be responsible for listening to you and voicing your views at Council of Governor meetings. They will also be responsible for communicating with you about our plans.
Q. Do members elect Governors?
A. If more than one person applies for a Governor role, then members of that particular category will be asked to elect who they want to represent them.
Governors
Q. Can anyone become a Governor?
A. People need to be a member of the trust and aged 16 or over to apply to become a Governor.
There are also other conditions such as people can’t be the Governor of more than one trust at once and Governors can’t stand if they have a criminal record.
For more information about being a Governor please click here.
Q. What will Governors do?
A. They will represent member views at Council of Governor meetings.
They will also appoint our Chairman and Non-Executive Directors and they will be given responsibility for holding the Board to account for its performance.
They will have other duties too such as receiving the Annual Report and Accounts and Quality Accounts.
Q. Do Governors get paid?
A. No, but they do get out of pocket expenses for attending meetings and events.
Q. Will the Council of Governor meetings be held in public?
A. Yes. These meetings will be open to members of the Trust and the general public who will be able to observe.
Q. What will happen if Governors don’t attend meetings?
A. Governors will be required to develop and agree our Constitution, which will outline the powers of the Trust and the procedures relating to the recruitment of members and elections of Governors. This will include things such as what will happen if Governors miss meetings.
Q. With there being Staff and Appointed Governors, could they influence debate more in their favour than the Public Governors?
A. No. To prevent this from happening, all foundation trusts need to have more Public Governors than Staff and Appointed added together.
This is reflected in our proposed Council of Governors model.
Q. Why have the proposed Appointed Governors been chosen?
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Bradford University is the largest and highest profile education establishment in the area and we already have strong links with them at many different levels.
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City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council and Craven District Council are the local authority areas covered by our services and there is a statutory requirement for foundation trusts to have one or more Appointed Governors representing local authorities.
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Sharing Voices provides mental health support to Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities predominantly living within the inner city of Bradford. We already work closely with them to reach out to seldom heard groups and they seem well placed to influence our future plans and strategies on behalf of BME communities.
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Barnardo’s is a national organisation that provides support to all young people, so is well placed to comment on our plans on behalf of younger people. We provide services to younger people and work in partnership with Barnardo’s to provide support and assistance to those with a mental health diagnosis.
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Bradford Community and Voluntary Service is the umbrella body for voluntary organisations in Bradford. Its role is to develop, support, promote and represent the interests of the Voluntary and Community Sector and we work with many different third sector groups in the course of our work.
A. The Board looked at a number of different stakeholders and chose the following organisations because of their involvement and relationships with us:
Further Information
If any of your questions have not been answered, or you have further questions, please contact our Foundation Trust Office:
- By phone: 01274 363552
- By email: ft@bdct.nhs.uk
- In writing:
Foundation Trust Office
Room 2.10
New Mill
Victoria Road
Saltaire
BD18 3LD
