n
an organization that runs a public hospital on behalf of the National Health Service in Britain. The first hospital trusts were created in 1990 when the British government decided to make hospitals responsible for their own administrative and financial affairs, rather than control them centrally. The idea was that they should be run on a more commercial basis, with less waste of money and resources. In 2004 the government introduced a new type of organization in England called the foundation trust or foundation hospital . Hospitals that achieve a high level of service can apply for foundation status , which gives them the right to raise their own finances, for example by selling assets or borrowing money. Twenty foundation trusts were created in April and July 2004 and more are expected. Many people are opposed to foundation hospitals because they believe they will create a two-tier health system (= a system where some hospitals have a lot of money and others not enough).