§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)My honourable friend the Minister of State for Health (Mr Hutton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
On 12 February my right honourable friend the Secretary of State announced that he would support the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust in its bid to be part of the first wave of NHS foundation trusts. The NHS trust can now apply to the office of the independent regulator, chaired by Bill Moyes, for authorisation as an NHS foundation trust, and set up new governance arrangements including recruiting members and holding elections to the board of governors.
The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust is now working towards authorisation as an NHS foundation trust along with 24 other NHS trusts.