Some 25 hospitals in England have already been lined up for foundation status from April.

However, ministers have now selected a further 32 hospitals to become foundation trusts in October.

The announcement comes just days after the controversial policy to give top-rated hospitals more freedom scraped through parliament.

More freedom

Under the proposals, hospitals can become independent not-for-profit organisations.

They will be able to borrow money on the private market and have a greater control over their own affairs.

Next wave of foundation trusts Airedale NHS Trust Barnsley District Hospital NHS Trust Birmingham Heartlands & Solihull NHS Trust Birmingham Women's Healthcare NHS Trust Burton Hospitals NHS Trust Chelsea & Westminster NHS Trust Chesterfield & North Derbyshire NHS Trust East Somerset NHS Trust Gateshead Health NHS Trust George Eliot Hospitals Harrogate Healthcare NHS Trust James Paget Healthcare NHS Trust Lancashire Teaching Hospital NHS Trust The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust Liverpool Women's Hospital NHS Trust Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust Mid-Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust Morecambe Bay NHS Trust North Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust The Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch NHS Trust Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust South Devon Hospitals NHS Trust Southend Hospital NHS Trust South Tyneside Healthcare NHS Trust Taunton & Somerset NHS Trust West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust Winchester & Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust York Health Services NHS Trust

Ministers believe the reforms will help to drive up standards across the NHS. Critics say they will create a two-tier NHS.

Ministers have said that they want to turn all NHS trusts in England into foundation trusts within five years.

The decision to allow "free" more trusts next year appears to be in line with the policy.

It means that almost every trust which received three stars in this year's NHS performance ratings should be foundation trusts by the end of next year.

It also means that around 25% of patients in England will be covered by a foundation trust.

Health Secretary John Reid said the reforms would improve patient care.

"Over the next year, this reform will break the monopoly of Whitehall's ownership and control of hospitals in this country - ending the myth that I can best direct hospitals on how to provide local health care.

"Instead a quarter of England's population will be served by hospitals over which their patients will have real rights and a real say."

Addressing a meeting of managers from the trusts selected to achieve foundation status in April, Mr Reid said the government would review its policy after they came on stream.

"We have now come through the controversy and need to move on.

"We have agreed we will look very carefully at the early results of the NHS foundation trusts, but no-one should be in any doubt about our commitment to reform to accompany the investment that has been put into the NHS.

"Since NHS foundation trusts are now going to cover 25% of the population, then it seems to me to be common sense to review and learn from the experience in that first year.

"I hope to be able to let you have further details on the terms of reference of that review as soon as possible."

Unison, the biggest health service union, condemned the announcement.

"It is an outrage that having secured a very narrow victory in last week's vote in the Commons by promising a review of the first wave of foundation hospitals, we get this announcement of a further 32 today," said spokeswoman Karen Jennings.

"MP's were rightly sceptical about foundation hospitals but they were led to believe that an independent body would assess the impact of the first wave of foundation trusts, before the second wave could proceed.

"Today's announcement is a deeply cynical move by John Reid which will ultimately be very damaging to the NHS, to patients and to staff."