1. Governor Awareness Session 2017

2. What is South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust?
1st January Became a foundation trust
1st July 2011 – Community health services for the Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland Primary Care Trusts transferred to the Trust under the Transforming Community Services Initiative.
We provide:
A full range of acute hospital services
A full range of community based services
Which include:
 Acute and Urgent Care  Women, Children and Family services
 Intermediate Care  End of Life and Specialist Palliative Care
 Planned Care  Learning disabilities, mental health and substance misuse
Some Community services transferred to Gateshead NHSFT in August 2016

3. Our Purpose, Aims and Objectives
Our vision as a Foundation Trust is to provide the best care for our patients, in the best place, at the right time. Our vision is underpinned by our aims and values, which are:-
Aims:
To deliver high quality and safe services for our patients
To continuously improve our services
To ensure our financial performance is strong
To deliver excellent partnerships for the benefits of our patients
To be an excellent employer
To always listen, learn and act, by adopting a “you said/we did” approach
Values:
We CHOOSE to go further to achieve patient outcomes
We CHOOSE to go further to improve patient safety
We CHOOSE to go further to provide compassionate care
We CHOOSE to go further to value our staff
We CHOOSE to go further to work in partnership

4. South Tyneside and Sunderland Healthcare Group
April South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust and City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust announced a commitment to closer working and created an alliance through the South Tyneside and Sunderland Healthcare Group.
November A Single Executive and Management Team across both organisations was announced
Both organisations remain separate Foundation Trusts, each responsible to their individual Board of Directors and Council of Governors.
The alliance between the organisations aims to ensure that local communities continue to receive high quality and sustainable hospital and community health services in the future.

5. Chair of Council of Governors and Board of Directors

7. How are Foundation Trusts Accountable?
Membership – our Members
Elect Governors
Council of Governors
Appoint Non Executive Directors and hold them to account for performance of the Board
Non Executive Directors
Appoint Directors and hold them to account for performance of the Trust
Directors
We have over 5000 public members and approximately 2500 staff members. The membership elect 24 governors 18 public and 6 staff
Public – 5384 (174 Gateshead 4969 ST, 235 Sund, 6 RNEE) Staff – 3658 (Clinical 2598, NC 1059)
Authorisation & regulation by
NHS Improvement – Sector Regulator

8. Our Council of Governors
32 Governors – made up of:
18 Public Governors
4 Sunderland
9 South Tyneside
4 Gateshead
Governors represent the views of the members
In June 2017 the constitution was amended to include an additional constituency of Rest of North East of England. This was partly due to the difficulty in recruiting NEDs from within the constituencies as it is a requirement that NEDs are public members of the Trust. But also to enable patient and their carers to become members who had previously lived outside the 3 constituencies.
1 Rest of North East England

9. 6 Staff Governors 8 Appointed Governors 4 Clinical 2 Non Clinical
CCGs Higher Education
Local Authority – Gateshead Voluntary Sector – Gateshead
Local Authority – South Tyneside Voluntary Sector – South Tyneside
Local Authority – Sunderland Voluntary Sector – Sunderland
8 are nominated representatives from partner organisations such as LAs, voluntary sector, CCGs and higher education.
Appointed governors serve a 3 year term, then eligible for re-appointment by the organisation

10. What do governors do?
• Hold the non-executive directors, individually and collectively, to account for the performance of the board of directors
• Represent the interests of the members of the Trust as a whole and the interests of the public
• Appoint and, if appropriate, remove the chair and the other non-executive directors
• Decide the remuneration and allowances and other terms and conditions of office of the chair and the other non-executive directors;
• Approve (or not) any new appointment of a chief executive;
• Appoint and, if appropriate, remove the NHS foundation Trust’s auditor
• Receive the Trust’s annual accounts, any report of the auditor on them, and the annual report.
• Approve “significant transactions”
• Approve an application by the trust to enter into a merger, acquisition, separation or dissolution
• Decide whether the Trust’s non-NHS work would significantly interfere with its principal purpose, which is to provide goods and services for the health service in England, or performing its other functions and
• Approve amendments to the Trust’s constitution
Find out ‘significant transaction meaning
Use NHSI definition - /risk assessment framework

11. How do governors do this?
Attend Council of Governors meetings and sub committees
Take part in development sessions
Represent the Council of Governors on sub committees of the Board of Directors
Join Working Groups and Project Teams
Take part in Board visiting programme
Sub Committees of Council of Governors - Governance Review and Communications
Appointments and Review Committee – engaging and recruiting NEDs and Chairman
Sub Committees – Patient Care and Public Experience (PCPEC)/Charitable Funds/Governance Committee (Quality Patient Safety and Risk Management)
PLACE, Elder friendly assessment, Review patient information leaflets (MOPIL) Modernisation of Patient Information Leaflets,
Were involved in Haven Court Project team meetings, A&E developments etc
Staff Governors hold Governor surgeries – You said/we did approach

12. What do Governors NOT do?
The Council of Governors is not involved in matters of day-to-day management such as setting budgets, staffing issues and other operational matters.
The Council of Governors does not have an inspectorial or investigatory role. Complaints etc. should be forwarded to the Company Secretary for investigation as appropriate.
The Council of Governors has no responsibilities for the appointment or removal of the CEO and Executive Directors, (with the exception of their statutory responsibility to approve the appointment of the CEO)
The Council of Governors contribute to the forward planning and strategic direction of the Trust, but are not responsible for delivering the agreed plans.

13. Supporting Governors
Ongoing support is provided to Governors and members through the Private Office ensuring good communication, information and involvement.

14. Governor Election Process
The Nomination Process
Self Nomination process
To nominate yourself you need:
To be a member of South Tyneside NHD Foundation Trust by the close of nominations
Be over 16
Complete a nomination form
Election process run by independent provider – Electoral Reform Services
Appointed as returning officer by STFT
Notice of election sent to all members with instructions

15. Timetable
Notice of Election/Nominations Open
Friday 6th October 2017
Nominations Deadline
Monday 23rd October 2017
Nominated candidates summary published
Tuesday 24th October 2017
Final date for Candidates Withdrawal
Thursday 26th October 2017
Notice of Poll published
Thursday 9th November 2017
Voting packs despatched
Friday 10th November 2017
Close of Election
Thursday 30th November 2017
Declaration of Results
Tuesday 5th December 2017

16. Election Statement This is the most important part of your nomination
It will be sent out to all voters with the ballot paper
Members will use this to decide who to vote for
It is worth taking some time to complete your election statement
Maximum 250 words

17. Election Statement (cont)
Make it memorable
Assume voters may not read the full statement
Consider your skills and experiences
Research current and future issues around the Trust and the Council of Governors
What is your contact/relationship with the Trust
Why do you want to stand
Do not exceed word count
Sell yourself!
Remember a photo but not necessary
Avoid writing about things which are not relevant to the role of governor or to the
membership
• Avoid over-promising – be clear about the role and what you can achieve
• Avoid using the statement to complain about services – especially without
offering solutions
Read the instructions
• Count your statement before you submit it
• If your statement is over the 250 word limit it will be cut at 250 words – even if
this is in the middle of a sentence!
Check and double check!
• No spelling or grammatical errors will be changed. The statement is reproduced
EXACTLY as it is submitted
• If writing your statement by hand please write as clearly as possible
• If possible type / your statement or submit online
All members within your constituency receive the election material and are
entitled to vote
• E.g. Public members vote for public governors
• Election material includes a voting paper, candidates statement booklet and a
declaration of identity
• In order to receive a ballot paper people need to be registered with the Trust by
the close of nominations on 23rd October – keep in mind if canvassing new members!
• The voting period runs from to 5pm on
• The results will be published

18. Good Luck