Item 8 - Sheffield Health and Social Care

5.4 Governor activities in 2012/13The relationship between the Board of Directors andCouncil of Governors is an important one and itsdevelopment was supported by sessions betweenthe two and regular meetings with Non-ExecutiveDirectors. One of these included the annualdevelopment session between Board and Councilin which the Board accounts to governors and isquestioned by governors on the Trust’s performancein the previous year. Support for governors and theirdevelopment is provided throughout the year. Atraining event to help governors understand newcommissioning arrangements was held as well as asession to explain the new Health and Social CareAct and its implications for governors.In December 2012 discussions took place betweenthe Board and Council on the Trust’s business andquality objectives for 2013/14. Governors providedtheir thoughts but also sought members’ viewson the Trust’s objectives via an online survey, towhich 159 people responded. This information wascollated and presented to the Board by governors.In addition to their statutory duties, governors areinvolved in a number of other areas of the Trust.These include:• Acute Care Reconfiguration• Creative Arts Steering Group (CAST)• Crisis House/Telephone Helpline project group• Finance Executive Director Interview Panel• Finance Sub Committee(to appoint external auditors)• Human Resources & Workforce Group• Involve Editorial Group• Membership & Communications Sub Group• Nominations and Remunerations Committee• Personality Disorder Strategy Team• Planning Priorities Group• Recovery Strategy Team• Service User Experience Monitoring Unit TrainingDevelopment Programme• Service User Safety Group• Spirituality Strategy Group• SUN:RISE Arts and Wellbeing Network• Supporting the Chaplains in their roles• Sustainability & Cost Savings Group.Governors have brought their influence to bearthrough the Council and by asking questions atthe Board of Directors meeting on a number ofissues including:• Both challenging and supporting the Trust’scommitment to energy efficiency• Challenging volunteer dependability at Boardlevel and helping the Chaplaincy Department toaccess more funding to employ further chaplains• Identifying the need to address the issue ofthe quality and quantity of paperwork inCMHTs and contributing to streamliningand improving processes• New Trust telephone system• Raising the profile of spirituality within care• Staff appraisal.As well as working inside the Trust, governors arerepresentatives on a number of external Committeesand groups and attend external events including:• 50+• Carers Café• Cathedral Archer Project• Chair – Carers and Young Carers Board• Chair – LDS Partnership Board• Council for Independent Living• Foundation Trust Network event.• Local Involvement Network• Mental Health Information Project Group• Mental Health Partnership Board• Patient Group at the Flowers Medical• Peoples Parliament for Learning Disabilities• Physical Health Event with David Shiers• Public Health Working Group• Reflections in Health• Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny Board• Sheffield Anglican Diocese’s Board of Faithand Justice including their ethnic minority andmental health subgroups (the latter presents upto 5 mental health study days per year).Through this wide variety of groups, governors makesure that their views, and the views of their membersare heard and listened to – they exert their influence.Governors are required to declare any material orfinancial interests in the Trust. For a copy of theregister of interests, please contact Karen Jones byemailing Karen.jones@shsc.nhs.uk or telephoning(0114) 2716747.5.5 The Nominations andRemuneration Committeeof the Council of GovernorsWhilst the appointment of the Trust Chair andother Non-Executive Directors is the responsibilityof the Council of Governors, the process ofselecting suitable candidates to be recommendedfor appointment by the Council is delegated to aCommittee of the Council of Governors known asthe Nominations and Remuneration Committee.In addition, the Committee has responsibility formonitoring the performance evaluation of theTrust Chair and the Non-Executive Directors.The Trust Chair presides over the meetings of theCommittee, except in instances where there wouldbe a conflict of interest, in which case, the ReserveChair (who is a member of the Councilof Governors) presides.Table 4In 2012/13 a recruitment process was held for3 Non-Executive Director posts whose terms wereat an end. The process was formal and rigorous,and is summarised below.The posts were advertised by the Committee in thelocal media, in addition to NHS Jobs and the NEDLink website (NHS Confederation). Applications wereshortlisted, and the shortlisted candidates invitedto focus group sessions with Governors, and theremaining Non-Executive and Executive Directors.The evaluations from the focus group sessions weresummarised and shared with the full Nominationsand Remunerations Committee, prior to individualpanel interviews with representatives from theNominations and Remunerations Committee. TheCommittee successfully selected three candidates forappointment as Non-Executive Directors of the Trust.These were recommended for appointment to theCouncil of Governors, and the Council accepted theCommittee’s recommendations.During 2012/13 the following changes have takenplace in the membership of the Committee:• Sue Wood retired from the Committee• Abbey George, Dave Jones, Sue Sibbald,Professor Peter Woodruff and Paul Harvey joinedthe Committee following their appointment bymembers of the Council of GovernorsThe attendance of the members of the Committeeat its meetings that were held during 2012/13 isshown as follows:Name Position Number of meetings attended out of total number of thosethat could possibly be attended by each Committee MemberAlan Walker Chair 3/3John Kay Reserve Chair 2/3Brandon Ashworth Committee Member 2/3Geraldine Mountain Committee Member 1/2Lindsay Oldham Committee Member 1/3Paul Harvey Committee Member 2/2Abbey George Committee Member 1/2Professor Peter Woodruff Committee Member 1/2Dave Jones Committee Member 0/2Sue Sibbald Committee Member 2/2Sue Wood Committee Member 1/1Note: The Committee held a total number of three meetings during the period covered by this report.5556