What it means to be an NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Foundation Trusts are part of and committed to the NHS, but have more freedom in how they run their hospital and how they meet the demands on them.

A Foundation Trust is an NHS organisation which gives greater opportunities for people, patients and staff who have a genuine interest in the Trust to have more of a say about the way in which services are provided. Foundation Trust status is only awarded to hospitals who have shown they demonstrate the highest clinical standards, quality leadership and a great record of patient responsiveness and safety.

GOSH as a Foundation Trust

Due to our Foundation Trust status at Great Ormond Street Hospital, we operate independently of central Government controls and this gives us the ability to take our own decisions so we can respond directly to local needs, designing services to meet them and, if necessary, borrowing and raising money to fund them. Strategic decision-making can be made quickly by a Trust Board who are focused solely on Great Ormond Street Hospital.

As a Foundation Trust, we follows all the same national guidelines, targets, standards and principles, especially the one that has underpinned Britain's National Health Service for more than 70 years.

Our core purpose remains the same: to put the child first and always. We remain an internationally renowned centre for treating sick children, with the widest range of children’s specialists in the UK.

With our research partner, the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, we will continue to be a leading centre for research into childhood illness and training children’s specialists.

Being an NHS Foundation Trust allows us to do all these things better.

Membership organisation

We are accountable to our patients, community and staff through what is known as membership which is available to anyone over the age of 10 years old. Membership ensures we deliver better patient, public and staff engagement so that we are representing the views of everyone. Joining our membership is easy, just fill out this form to be added to our database.

As a member, you can also take part in Council of Governors elections, representing the views of members and ensuring the Trust is accountable to the local community. Meet our current Council of Governors here.