(foundation hospitals) self-governing NHS organizations established under the Health and Social Care Act 2003. Foundation trusts were intended to be accountable to their local communities and *NHS Improvement rather than to central government, while remaining subject to inspection by the *Care Quality Commission in the same way as other health-care providers. In recent years, however, many foundation trusts have required additional government funding due to financial deficits, with the result that central government has regained a large degree of financial and planning control. In practice, few differences now remain between foundation trusts and other NHS acute trusts.
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