10 years after NHS Foundation Trusts were created, their democratic processes are failing

The first Foundation Trusts were launched ten years ago this week, in April 2004. This new model was designed to increase the autonomy of NHS organisations and make them democratically accountable to local communities. The model may have succeeded on the former objective but on the latter they have fallen far short of expectations, argues Democratic Audit’s Richard Berry. In this post he shares findings from new research into participation levels in Trusts’ democratic processes.