Council of governors

Overview

As an NHS foundation trust, QVH has a Board of Directors and a Council of Governors. The Board of Directors is responsible for the strategy and performance of the Trust and the Council of Governors holds the Board of Directors to account for the trust’s performance. The Trust chair leads both the board of directors and the council of governors.

Statutory duties

The Council of Governors has important statutory powers which include:

• to appoint and, if appropriate, remove the chair, non-executive directors and auditor
• to decide the remuneration, allowances and other terms and conditions of the chair and non-executive directors
• to approve the appointment of the chief executive
• to receive the annual accounts, any report of the auditor on them and the annual report.

Members

The QVH Council of Governors currently comprises:

• 14 public governors – individuals elected from the trust’s public membership (see about membership for more information)
• Three staff governors – individuals elected from the trust’s staff membership
• Three stakeholder governors – individuals nominated by the trust’s key partner organisations.

The full list of governors provides information about terms of office and membership of sub-committees and working groups.

A number of governors also hold leadership or senior roles on the board.

Principles

The QVH Council of Governors holds quarterly meetings in public which QVH members and members of the general public are welcome and encouraged to attend. The papers are made available from this website one week before each meeting. More information about recent and forthcoming formal meetings is on the public meetings page. In addition, the council of governors usually holds one or two private meetings each year.

Sub-committees

There are two formal sub-committees of the QVH Council of Governors:

• Appointments Committee
  The Appointments Committee meets quarterly and is responsible for the identification and nomination of non-executive directors including the Chair. It advises the Council of Governors who are responsible for the appointment, re-appointment and removal of the Chair and other non-executive directors, and also the remuneration, allowances and other terms and conditions of the chair and non-executive directors.
• Governor Steering Committee (GSC)
  The GSG was created by the QVH Council of Governors to support and facilitate the work of the Council of Governors generally, and specifically to hold the Trust’s Non-Executive Directors to account for the performance of the board and representing the interests of members and the public. It meets at least four times per year, in advance of each ordinary meeting of the Council of Governors.

More information, enquiries and contact details

More information about the governance of NHS foundation trusts councils of governors is available from the website of NHS Improvement, the organisation responsible for overseeing foundation trusts and NHS trusts, as well as independent providers that provide NHS-funded care. In particular, the Monitor Code of Governance sets out the best practice guidance for the governance of foundation trusts.

To find out more about the Council of Governors or to make contact with governors, please email  Leonora May, Deputy Company Secretary, at leonora.may1@nhs.net