Foundation hospitals plans diluted

Public services union UNISON has vowed to continue its opposition to foundation hospitals, despite a commitment from the government last month that the hospitals would have to sign up to Agenda for Change - the NHS pay system agreed earlier this year.

One of the many objections to the foundation scheme is that hospitals would be able to poach NHS staff from other hospitals by offering better pay and conditions. In last month's debate on the legislation, health minister John Hutton told the House of Commons that all NHS foundation trust applicants would now have to agree to sign up to Agenda for Change.

However, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis says there is "nothing to this effect in the legislation" and warns that the Agenda for Change pay system "could easily be ignored in future years to come". The union will be looking for more concrete guarantees on this issue, and plans to take the fight over foundation hospitals "into the heart of Labour" at its conference later this year.

The union did, however, welcome the fact that the legislation had been "watered down" with limitations on the freedom of foundation hospitals to borrow or generate unlimited income from private patients.

Attempts to remove plans for the creation of foundation hospitals completely from the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill were narrowly defeated last month when the bill gained its third reading. It now goes to the House of Lords.