National Health Service Act 2006

218 Private trusts for hospitals

(1) Subsection (2) applies where the terms of a trust instrument authorise or require the trustees, whether immediately or in the future, to apply any part of the capital or income of the trust property for the purposes of any health service hospital.

(2) The trust instrument must be construed as authorising or requiring the trustees to apply the trust property to the like extent, and at the like times, for the purpose of making payments, whether of capital or income, to the appropriate hospital authority.

(3) Any sum paid to the appropriate hospital authority must, so far as practicable, be applied by it for the purpose specified in the trust instrument.

(4) “The appropriate hospital authority” means—

(a) where special trustees are appointed for the hospital, those trustees,

(b) where the hospital is managed by, and trustees have been appointed for, an NHS trust, an NHS foundation trust or Primary Care Trust, the trustees,

(c) where the hospital is managed by an NHS trust, an NHS foundation trust or Primary Care Trust and neither paragraph (a) nor paragraph (b) applies, the NHS trust, NHS foundation trust or Primary Care Trust, and

(d) in any other case, the Strategic Health Authority or Special Health Authority exercising functions of the Secretary of State in respect of the hospital, or the Special Health Authority or Local Health Board exercising functions of the Welsh Ministers in respect of the hospital.

(5) Nothing in this section applies to property transferred under section 24 of the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973.

(6) In this section—

• “health service hospital” includes such a hospital within the meaning of section 206 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 (c. 42), and

• “special trustees” includes special trustees within the meaning of section 160 of that Act.