Our governors

Our governors act as guardians of the organisation by providing a link between the organisation’s leadership, trust members, patients and members of the public.

Their role includes:

providing input and advice for consideration by the board of directors, to assist strategic decisions on matters affecting patient care
monitoring performance of the trust to hold the board of directors to account
contributing to the achievement of the organisation’s vision, values, aims and objectives
acting as ambassadors for the services of the trust.

Governors also have statutory responsibilities to fulfil:

appointing the trust chairman and non-executive directors
appointing the trust external auditor
ratifying the appointment of the chief executive
making decisions on remuneration for non-executive directors (including the chairman).

Who are our governors?

We have a total of 36 governors – 31 elected by the public and staff and the others appointed from a diverse range of partner organisations.

You can find out more at ‘Meet our governors’

Council of governors meetings

The council of governors meet bi-monthly throughout the year, on the alternate months to the board of directors meetings, with wide ranging debate on a number of areas of interest.

Regular reports are presented from the council’s working groups, focusing on:

quality of patient experience
business and development
people, engagement and membership

Each working group is aligned to a specific and relevant committee of the board of directors, to gain further assurance.

Governors also attend other meetings within the trust’s governance structure, such as the clinical effectiveness and audit guidelines group and the patient experience steering group.

You can find meeting papers here:

Council of governors papers