BRADFORD Teaching Hospitals has announced that its health chiefs are to hold their Foundation Trust Board meeting within the community at the city’s Al Mahdi Mosque.

The meeting is open to the public to observe and will take place tomorrow from 9am to 11.30am.

Anyone with an interest in health is encouraged to attend as the meeting gives the public an opportunity to listen to the hospital executives who run the Bradford Royal Infirmary, St Luke’s Hospital and the district’s three community hospitals, as they discuss quality and safety, finances and plans for the future.

The meeting at the mosque on Rees Way, Bradford, BD3 0DZ, will be chaired by Foundation Trust Acting Chairman, Trevor Higgins.

He said: “All our Board meetings are open to members of the public, but we appreciate that due to the large area we serve it may be too far for some people to travel and so we decided to take our meetings out into the community, so people can see for themselves how we make decisions.

“I hope that by holding our Board meetings in public at different locations across the district, we are further demonstrating our commitment to being open and transparent.

"After all, the meetings are an opportunity for us to hold ourselves accountable. They also remind us that as we strive for excellence, we must maintain the safety and quality of care for our patients.”

Mosque president Dr Mohammed Iqbal, who serves as a non-executive member of the Board, said: “As a publicly-funded and publicly-accountable organisation, it is important that the Foundation Trust takes its meetings to new audiences and I am delighted to be able to host Bradford Teaching Hospitals’ Board meeting.”

A copy of the agenda will be placed on the Foundation Trust's internet site www.bradfordhospitals.nhs.uk/board-of-directors-meetings-2016 before the meeting takes place.

The Board consists of eight directors and ten non-executive Directors.