Patients and the public are being invited to join a scheme as part of an attempt by Oxfordshire hospitals to win foundation status.

Membership is free and open to everyone aged 12 or over, whether or not they have ever been a hospital patient. It means a membership council would be formed, giving patients a greater say in the running of the trust. Foundation trusts are still fully part of the NHS.

Elaine Strachan-Hall, director of nursing and clinical leadership and chief nurse for the trust, said: "Foundation trusts allow patients and the public to get far more involved in the NHS. We will keep our members informed about what we are doing, and will ask for their views on new developments.

"We also plan to organise some events so we can meet our members and find out what matters to them.

"Some people will just want to show their support by joining up while others will have the time to get more involved."

To mark the launch of the scheme, Ms Strachan-Hall talked to patients and staff at the John Radcliffe Hospital and Oxford children's hospital. She said the ORH trust, which runs the John Radcliffe and Churchill hospitals in Oxford, and the Horton in Banbury, expected to find out early next year if its bid to become a foundation trust had been successful.

To find out more, email orhmembers@orh.nhs.uk