Annual Report and Accounts 2012/13 - Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital

4. Our Governance
Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust
Annual Report and Accounts 2012/13
69
The Directors are paid
for their skills, time and
expertise in leading the
Trust both strategically
and operationally,
as well as for taking
responsibility for the
performance of the Trust
and being accountable
in the event of failures.
The Board of Directors has both
Executive and Non-Executive Directors
(NEDs) with a majority of independent
Non-Executive Directors. It is a
unitary Board which means that both
Executive and Non-Executive Directors
share the same liabilities and joint
responsibility for every decision of
the Board. The Chief Executive is the
nominated Accounting Officer and is
responsible for the overall organisation,
management and staffing of the NHS
Foundation Trust, for its procedures
in financial and other matters, and
for offering appropriate advice to
the Board on all matters of financial
propriety and regularity.
In carrying out their role, Directors
need to be able to deliver focused
strategic leadership and effective
scrutiny of the Trust’s operations, and
make decisions objectively and in the
interests of the Trust. The Board of
Directors will act in strict accordance
with the accepted standards of
behaviour in public life, which include
the principles of selflessness, integrity,
objectivity, accountability, openness,
honesty and leadership (The Nolan
Principles).
The Board of Directors is legally
accountable for services provided by
the Trust and is responsible for setting
the strategic direction, having taken
account of the views of the Council
of Governors, and for the overall
management of the RD&E.
The Board is led by the Non-Executive
Chairman. There are six Non-Executive
Directors who, together with the
Chairman, form a majority on the
Board. The six Executive Directors
manage the day-to-day operational
and financial performance of the Trust.
The Board of Directors works on
a unitary basis, being collectively
responsible for the performance of the
NHS Foundation Trust and exercising
all the powers of the Trust. In so doing,
Board Members bear full legal liability
for the operational and financial
performance of the Trust.
The Board normally meets to conduct
its core business at least ten times
a year. At these meetings it takes
strategic decisions and monitors the
operational performance of the Trust,
holding the Executive Directors to
account for the Trust’s achievements.