Health chiefs from some of the country's leading hospitals met in Bradford to discuss how foundation trusts can use their unique status to make a difference to the health and wealth of local communities.

Delegates at the national conference - Healthy Foundations - discussed the expanding role of foundation trusts and how they are contributing to healthy economies.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital, was awarded foundation status in the first wave of announcements in April 2004.

Freed from central control it is seen as an opportunity for health chiefs to tackle local health inequalities rather than focus on central targets.

Speakers at the event at Cartwright Hall included Jude Williams of the Healthcare Commission, an independent health watchdog, Linda Pollard, chairman of West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority and Professor Paul Johnstone, regional director of public health for Yorkshire and Humber.

The event was introduced by Andrew Cash, chairman of the Foundation Trust Network and chief executive of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who said: "Foundation trust status gives us a golden opportunity to deliver real improvements to both patient care and the involvement of patients and the public in the way their hospitals are run."

Dr John Wright and Jane West from Bradford Teaching Hospitals presented a workshop at the seminar entitled 'Putting health back into hospitals'.

Prof Johnstone said: "Foundation trusts are at the cutting edge of the Government's commitment to innovation within the NHS. With a staff of over 120,000 they can really take the lead in demonstrating how to be a healthy employer and because of their unique membership and accountability to people locally and their ability to tailor services to better meet the needs of different groups, they are well placed to develop new ways to tackle health inequalities."