West Suffolk Hospital was awarded NHS Foundation Trust status on Thursday 1 December 2011.

David Ruffley MP said: 'I wish to congratulate West Suffolk Hospital Trust ('WSHT') for being awarded Foundation Hospital Trust status.

This new status will give the Trust the freedom to invest in the services that the people of Suffolk need. It will ensure greater public and staff engagement and more local control. This is great news for the people of Suffolk and I would especially like to congratulate all of the staff at WSHT who worked so hard on the application.'