The Council of Governors

Every NHS Foundation Trust is required to establish a Board of Governors. Ours is called the Council of Governors, as we believe this reflects their role better. The main role of the Council of Governors is threefold:

• Advisory  - to advise the Board of Directors on decisions about the strategic direction of the organisation
  
• Strategic  - to inform the development of the future strategy for the organisation
  
• Guardianship  - to act as guardian of the NHS Foundation Trust for the local community.

The Chair of the Council of Governors will also be the chair of the NHS Foundation Trust. The Council of Governors does not “run” the Trust, or get involved in operational issues. This is the job of the Board. However, it has a key role in advising the Board on issues and ultimately in holding the Board to account for the decisions the Board makes.

Council Structure

There are certain requirements about how Council of Governors should be made up. For example, there must be representation from local primary care trusts (PCTs), local authorities and staff constituencies. However, as long as the majority of governors are public/patient representatives, the Trust can make its own decisions about how the Council is made up. 

There are two types of Governors:

• Elected governors, voted for by the membership from public/patient and staff constituencies
  
• Appointed governors, from nominated partnership organisations.

Governors elected by the public/patient constituencies

There will be a total of seventeen public/patient governors, elected by the public/patient constituencies. This number is drawn from the different constituencies in the following way:

• Portsmouth City – five governors
  
• East Hampshire District – five governors
  
• Boroughs of Fareham and Gosport – five governors
  
• Portsmouth Hospitals patients or carers – two governors.

 Governors elected by the staff constituency

There will be five elected staff governors, who must be members of staff. These will be elected by the members of the five staff classes in the following way:

• Registered Medical Practitioners and Registered Dentists – one governor
  
• Nursing and Midwifery (including healthcare assistants) – one governor
  
• Allied Health Professionals – one governor
  
• Non-clinical  – one governor.
  
• Ancillary – one governor.

Governors appointed from partner organisations

There will be eleven appointed partner Governors. Details of the partner organisations that have been selected for representation on the Council of Governors are shown in the Trust Consultation document page 16. The range of partner organisations is as follows:

• Local primary care trusts – three governors
  
• Local authorities – three governors
  
• Other partner organisations – five governors.