COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD

The Board delegates a number of its functions to committees who are responsible for reporting to the Board on the most important areas of business and each formal committee is chaired by a non-executive director.

Following each committee meeting, a summary report of the meeting is prepared for Trust Board and presented by the relevant committee chair. In addition, as part of its work programme, the committee undertakes an annual review of its terms of reference, schedule of business and committee effectiveness.

The Board committees are: Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, Remuneration Committee, Quality and Safety Committee and the Finance, Resources and Performance Committee.

Audit and Risk Assurance Committee

The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee is a formal committee of the Board and meets five times per annum. It has responsibility for:

• Reviewing systems of integrated governance, risk management, information governance and internal control;
• Approving the plans of work of the internal and external auditors and monitoring performance against those plans;
• Monitoring the performance of Trust management in responding to issues raised by auditors;
• Reviewing the draft Annual Report, draft Quality Account and financial statements before submission to the Board; and
• Ensuring that policies, procedures, systems and processes are in place to ensure effective clinical and corporate governance.
• Ensure appropriate arrangements across the Trust are in place for identifying, prioritising and managing risk

Remuneration Committee

The Remuneration Committee is a Committee of the Trust Board responsible for determining the remuneration and terms of service of the Trust’s chief officers. It comprises all the non-executive directors of the Trust and meets at least twice per year.

The principle areas of responsibility include:

• All aspects of salary, including any performance related elements and bonuses
• Provisions of other benefits including pensions
• Contractual arrangements, including severance packages for directors in the event of termination of employment.

Quality and Safety Committee

The Quality and Safety Committee is a formal committee of the Trust Board and is scheduled to meet twelve times per year. It acts as the principal source of advice and expertise to the Trust Board on patient safety and quality, as well as health and safety for patients, staff and visitors.

The Committee ensures that adequate and appropriate clinical governance structures, processes and controls are in place across the Trust to:

• Promote safety, quality and excellence in patient care
• Ensure the effective and efficient use of resources through the evidence-based clinical practice.
• Protect the safety of employees and all others to whom the Trust owes a duty of care
• Ensure that effective systems and processes are in place to support high quality care through an effectual training and education and ICT infrastructure

It oversees and monitors patient safety, patient experience, education and training, and regulatory standards to ensure that the Trust has the appropriate strategies, processes, systems, policies, and procedures in place to deliver the necessary standards of care.

It acts as the principal source of advice and assurance to the Trust Board on patient safety, health and safety and quality governance.

Finance, Resources and Performance Committee

The Finance, Resources and Performance Committee is a formal committee of the Trust Board and is scheduled to meet twelve times per year. The Committee plays a key role in ensuring that the Trust has a robust financial strategy and strong financial management systems in place to enable the Trust to meet its statutory financial duties. It also reviews performance against the Trust’s key operational targets.

The Committee ensures that adequate and appropriate structures, processes and controls are in place across the Trust by commissioning;:

• Regular reports from the Trust’s chief officers on key aspects of financial and operational performance within an integrated reporting framework;
• Briefings on the Trust’s financial planning and contracting arrangements;
• Other ad-hoc reports across a range of areas including: service level agreements, reference costs, service improvement and efficiency programme, service strategy, performance and programme management.

---

Back