Board of Governors

Representing your views

Members elect the Board of Governors to represent them. It is a legal requirement that over half the governors will be the representatives of local people. The rest of the governors will be elected by our staff or will be appointed from local organisations who work in partnership with us.

Governors act as representatives of their respective areas and provide a link with the wider community. They work in partnership with the Board of Directors by giving support and advice to the Trust Board in relation to future services and strategic direction. Governors also appoint the chair and non-executive directors of the Board of Directors.

Any member is eligible to become a governor so long as they are not disqualified on statutory or other grounds. These rules will be clearly set out in the Trust’s constitution.

Our proposals

We propose that governors must be aged 16 years or over.

We believe that our Board of Governors should be of an appropriate size to undertake its responsibilities.

It will be made up of 38 members, as follows:

Elected Public Governors
These governors will be elected by the area of the public constituency that they represent:

Nottingham City (9 seats)
Nottinghamshire County (excluding Nottingham City) (9 seats)
Derbyshire County (including Derby City) (2 seats)
Rest of England and Wales (2 seats)

Total elected public governors: 22

Elected Staff Governors
These governors will be elected by the class of the staff constituency that they represent:

Medical and Dental (1 seat)
Nursing and Midwifery (including unqualified) (2 seats)
Scientific, Professional and Technical/Allied Health Professionals (1 seat)
Admin and Clerical and Senior Managers (1 seat)
Ancillary/Maintenance (1 seat)
Clinical support (1 seat)

Total elected staff governors: 7 seats

Appointed Governors
These governors will be appointed to give a voice to the Trust’s local partner organisations. We propose:

NHS Nottingham City (1 seat)
NHS Nottinghamshire County (1 seat)
Nottingham City Council (1 seat)
Nottinghamshire County Council (1 seat)
University of Nottingham (1 seat)
Nottingham Trent University (1 seat)
Nottinghamshire Police (1 seat)
East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (1 seat)
Nottingham University Hospitals’ Staff Side (representing Trade Unions and Professional Organisations) (1 seat)

Total Appointed Governors: 9 seats

We propose the following arrangements:
Elections of public and staff members to the Board of Governors will be held every three years. We propose to use a proportional representation system. This means a single transferrable vote. Usually, any mid-term vacancies will be filled by the unsuccessful candidates for that area or class with the most votes. This will also ensure that we minimise the need for unnecessary by-elections. However, in the unlikely event that the number of Public Governors in post fell to below 50 per cent of the total in post, we would hold by-elections to fill those vacancies.

A term of office is therefore a maximum of three years. A mid-term appointment would also count as one term. We propose that no Governor can serve more than two consecutive terms without a break of three years (after which they would be eligible to stand for election again).

The Board of Governors will meet in public at least four times a year. They will not be paid for the work they undertake but will be able to claim reasonable out of pocket expenses, based on national rates.