Staff at Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust are celebrating today after being the first NHS trust in Oxfordshire and Mid/South Buckinghamshire to be granted Foundation Trust (FT) status.

The new Trust – Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust – will come into being on 1st April 2008. Becoming an FT will allow the Trust to act more independently and quickly to develop services that meet the needs of the communities it serves.

Janet Godden, Chair of the Trust, said, “I’m delighted that the Trust has been awarded Foundation status. I know it’s well deserved and we’re proud to be the first FT in both Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. We will now have greater freedom to plan ahead and work in different ways with our main partners, and we intend to work hard to use these freedoms for the benefit of patient services. We have a Foundation Trust membership of around 5,000 people, including staff, members of the public and patients and their carers of all ages. We have a committed Members’ Council to work with and we’re looking forward with confidence and enthusiasm.”

The Members’ Council is made up of nominated leads from partner organisations and Governors elected in January 2008 by staff, service users, carers and residents from across both counties. The Council oversees the work of the Trust Board and ensures that the needs of its constituents are being met. The Council met for the first time at the end of February and will meet formally four times a year.

Julie Waldron, Chief Executive, said, “Being granted FT status is a true reflection of how hard the staff at the Trust have worked over the past few years to improve services and ensure we are in a position to take on such a role. FT status will give us the freedom to develop our services according to the needs of our patients and start to make a real difference to the inpatient environments by upgrading and replacing existing wards.”

The Trust continues to encourage people to sign up to become members. Please visit the Trust’s website at www.obmh.nhs.uk and fill in the online application form or request an application form by calling 01865 782180.

You can be involved as little or a much as you like. From simply receiving information on the latest development and news from the Trust to being involved in planning services for the future, it is your decision