Governors have two roles - statutory duties that they have to carry out and non-statutory duties that are carried out in agreement between the Trust and the Governors, in accordance with the National Health Act 2006.
The statutory duties include:
- Selecting and appointing the Chairman and Non-Executive Directors
- Approving the appointment of a Chief Executive
- Approving the salary of the Chairman and Non-Executive Directors
- Advising the Trust Board of Directors on a range of issues
- Attending meetings of the Council of Governors
- Appointing the Trust's External Auditor
- Receiving annual reports and accounts
- Holding the Trust Board of Directors to account
The non-statutory duties which have been developed so far:
- Participating in Governor working groups and contributing to Governor activities
- Assessing the patient and visitor experience and helping in the development of improvement programmes
- Understanding the requirements of the Code of Governance for NHS Foundation Trusts published by Monitor
- Developing the membership strategy and increasing membership
- Publishing a quarterly newsletter distributed to all members
- Giving talks to interested public groups, clubs and societies
- Discussing the hospital's future development
