Written question asked by Graham Stringer (Labour) on Tuesday, 17 July 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 July 2007. It was answered by Ben Bradshaw (Labour) on Monday, 23 July 2007 on behalf of the Department of Health.

NHS Foundation Trusts

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of foundation hospitals whose boards met wholly in private; and what percentage this figure represents of the total number of foundation hospitals.

Answer: The Department does not hold this information. Legislation governing national health service foundation trusts allows them to open board of governors meetings to the public. There is no equivalent provision for meetings of the board of directors. The way in which these meetings are conducted is a matter for individual trusts. Directors would need to justify decisions on the conduct of their meetings with governors, who can hold directors to account for the performance of the trust and are responsible for communicating with the membership community information relating to the performance of the organisation.

Secondary information