HOSPITALS in Merseyside have failed to recruit enough members after winning independence from Whitehall and need to “up their game”, a former Health Secretary has warned.

Alan Milburn – who pioneered the introduction of foundation hospitals during his years in the Cabinet post – criticised those which had signed up “barely a few thousand” local people.

One of the key promises made for foundation trusts was that they would hand power to the people, to fulfil Mr Milburn’s pledge that they would be “owned and controlled locally, not nationally”.

But latest figures reveal that only one of the five trusts in Merseyside and North Cheshire that have gained the extra freedoms has succeeded in signing up more than 6,000 members.

The lowest number is at Aintree Hospitals trust (4,474), followed by Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology (4,735), Countess of Chester trust (5,153) and Wirral Hospital (5,653).

In sharp contrast, some foundation hospitals – for example, in North Yorkshire – have flourishing membership rolls, at Harrogate and District trust (12,191) and York Hospitals (11,084).

All the hospitals had much higher overall membership, but most of the additions are staff who, in many cases, are signed up automatically.