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What is the role of foundation trusts?
As part of our work on analysing the controversial decision to prohibit the proposed merger of Poole Hospital Foundation Trust and the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Foundation Trust, we've been grappling with what the role of foundation trusts really is in an ever changing system.
Last year, following the decision made by the then Competition Commission to prohibit the proposed merger, press reports were strongly associated with headlines around competition. For example, Polly Toynbee wrote in The Guardian: "Competition is killing the NHS, for no good reason but ideology.
"Enforced competition, as predicted, is wasting millions and putting lives at risk. Just look at Bournemouth and Poole."
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While competition and its role was important in the final decision to block the merger, one of the issues that struck me the most was the inconsistency in how the system views NHS foundation trusts. In many ways, the role of competition in the NHS is of secondary importance to working out what NHS foundation trusts are actually there to do.Emma Spencelayh
On the one hand, we expect foundation trusts to...