Become a governor

What our governors do

Our governors play an extremely important role in our Trust. They reflect the views of the Trust’s members and help the Trust to decide what sort of services we should be offering to patients.

The National Health Service 2006 Act gave governors powers to:

  • appoint or remove the chair and non-executive directors (NEDs)

  • approve the appointment of the chief executive

  • decide the remuneration and allowances, and other terms and conditions of office, of the chair and other non-executive directors

  • appoint or remove the Trust’s auditor

  • receive the annual report and accounts

In addition:

  • in preparing the Trust’s forward plan, the board of directors must have regard to the views of the governors.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 gave governors additional powers:

  • to hold the NEDs, individually and collectively, to account for the performance of the board
  • to represent the interests of the members of the Trust as a whole and the interests of the public
  • to approve ‘significant transactions’
  • to approve an application by the Trust to enter into a merger, acquisition, separation or dissolution
  • to 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 function
  • to approve amendments to the Trust’s constitution
  • the council of governors (CoG) may require one or more of the directors to attend a CoG meeting to obtain information about performance of the Trust’s functions or the directors’ performance of their duties, and to help the CoG decide whether to propose a vote on the Trust’s or directors’ performance
  • to approve any proposed increase in private patient income of 5% or more in any financial year

Qualifications to be a governor

The following specifications must be met in order to become (or continue as) a governor:

  • governors must be a member of the Trust (you can become a member today) 

  • governors must be at least 18 years old

There are certain statutory requirements that prevent an individual from becoming a governor, which are in Annex 6 of our constitution.

For example, a person cannot be a governor if they:

  • hold a position as an executive or non-executive director of the Trust or a governor or director of any other NHS Foundation Trust or NHS Trust

  • have a criminal conviction within the preceding five years

  • are bankrupt

  • have been dismissed from an NHS job within the preceding two years

  • have been disqualified from a health-related professional body.

How do I become a governor?

If you are interested in becoming a governor, please contact:

Email: members@gstt.nhs.uk