§ 16. Mr. WilshireTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the progress with setting up health service trusts.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI am delighted to report that there has been great interest in national health service trust status.
Fifty seven national health service trusts will be operational from 1 April this year. The other nine candidates are continuing to work towards trust status. To date, a further 129 hospitals and units have expressed an interest in gaining trust status by April 1992.