AN NHS trust is holding a consultation on whether the public should have more say in how it is run.

Herts Community NHS Trust, the main community nursing and therapy service for the county, is seeking views from residents on a proposed bid to change its status to a community foundation trust.

If the bid was granted by the Department of Health, all county residents, patients and staff could become members and elect the majority of a board of governors.

Trust chief executive, Karen Taylor, said the move will enable the trust to have more say over how treatment is delivered.

“Our trust may be relatively young but we are dynamic and forward thinking and the services we provide across Hertfordshire are well established with reputations for high quality,” she said.

“We are very excited about the opportunities and challenges that community foundation trust status offers us. The one key advantage is that we will have much more control of our own destiny as we go forward in shaping services in our local communities which are closer to people’s homes.”

One NHS organisation in the county, mental health service Hertfordshire Partnership, has already gained foundation trust status and both acute hospital trusts and the ambulance trust are in the process of making bids as part of government reforms to the health service.

A public meeting is being held in the Executive Suite at Stevenage FC on Monday from 7pm to 8.30pm to discuss the trust’s proposals.

Go to www.hertschs.nhs.uk to download a copy of the consultation document. The consultation ends on May 9.