It used to be plain old Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust.Then in 2002 it added the word "teach-ing" to its title when it began to offer more training for the doc-tors of tomorrow.Now in a fur-ther prestigious move the city's hospital trust has been awarded Foundation status and so today its name becomes Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.But, ac-cording to managers of Brad-ford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital, it is more than just another name change - Foundation Trust status they say will bring real benefits to people.Initial developments planned by the Trust include a major reduction in waiting times - it is aiming to meet the Government's 2008 targets by the end of next year; a new and dedicated unit for people re-quiring joint and bone surgery and improvements to emer-gency care.Chief executive, David Jackson said: "The really big difference is that the hospital is now owned by the local community and we, as managers and the board of di-rectors, are accountable to the local community, through the board of governors."That means that all the major deci-sions about the priorities within the hospital and its fu-ture development will be made by local people."The board of governors is the ultimate arbi-ter of priorities and how the hospital develops. There has not been that local control since 1948."With that local con-trol comes less interference from on high - and less paper work and therefore more time to focus on what matters - the health of the people of Brad-ford."The vastly reduced re-quirements for the managers of the hospital to account to West Yorkshire Strategic Health Au-thority and the Department of Health will provide a new focus in which we will be able to move quickly on pressing pri-orities," said Mr Jack-son."Instead of submitting de-tailed reports to these authori-ties we will be able to save that time and achieve the targets set by the board of gover-nors."However, Foundation Trusts have not been welcomed by everyone. The Govern-ment's flagship policy faced a stormy ride through Parlia-ment and it was opposed by health unions, who feared it could lead to greater inequali-ties between hospitals.To those critics, Mr Jackson makes no apology for wanting the best NHS possible for the people of Bradford."That is why I am employed," he said. "To achieve the best for Bradford - but having said that we would not want this fantastic accolade for the city to be at the expense of any other part of the NHS."We are NHS people through and through and would not have dreamed of pressing this through if we thought it was damaging to the NHS - it would make no sense."

Q: What are Foundation Trusts?A: These new organisa-tions will be set free from cen-tral Government control. They will manage their own budgets and be able to shape services according to local need.They will be inspected regularly by an independent body to ensure standards remain high. Foun-dation Trusts will be free to de-velop new solutions to long-standing problems such as staff shortages and long waits for certain treatments.Although run locally, NHS Foundation Trust will remain part of the wider NHS. They are legally bound to work closely with partner organisations and healthcare planning will look across the whole NHS commu-nity, leading to a better 'fit' be-tween service