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NHS Direct in foundation trust bid

By Alisdair Stirling

NHS Direct has revealed it is to apply for foundation trust status as it bids to win urgent care services.

The application - at the request of Health Secretary Andrew Lansley - is based on NHS Directs belief that it has 'a reasonable prospect of winning sufficient 111 contracts to make the organisation viable as a foundation trust from April 2013.'

NHS Direct reportedly dropped plans to become a foundation trust in 2008 because of the then Labour government's reluctance to free it from national control.

In a letter to Mr Lansley, NHS Directs chair Joanne Shaw said she wanted to create a new organisation capable of competing for future 111 contracts on an ‘any willing provider' basis.

NHS direct