Published on: 20th April 2009
Governors form an integral part of the governance structure that exists in all NHS foundation trusts. They are elected by an NHS foundation trust’s members to represent its patients and service users, staff and general public. They do not undertake operational management of NHS foundation trusts; rather they provide challenge to the board of directors and collectively hold them to account for the trust’s performance. Governors are responsible for appointing the chair and the non-executive directors of the foundation trust’s board of directors.
In 2007 Monitor commissioned research to investigate how well governors were performing in their new role and what challenges they faced. That research told us that, in the area of discharging statutory duties, governors would welcome guidance and support.
Guide for NHS foundation trust governors: meeting your statutory responsibilities was issued for consultation in April and is the result of a commitment to follow up our initial research on governors. It looks at what the statutory powers and duties of governors are, what is required of governors in relation to them and in practice how governors can best meet these challenges.
The consultation closed on Tuesday 14 July 2009 at 5pm, after running for 12 weeks.