Our ambition is for people to have improved lives and an optimistic future

Council of Governors

The role of the Council of Governors is to gain assurance on behalf of the Membership and the public, with regard to the organisations performance, with a particular focus on service quality. The role and responsibilities of the Council of Governors, as defined by The Health and Social Care Act 2012 and the preceding 2006 Act include:

Governors will represent the interests of members and the public
Governors will have express statutory duties to hold Non Executive Directors individually and collectively to account
Governors can require Directors to attend a Council meeting to obtain information on performance of the Trust
Significant transactions will have to be signed off by 50% Governors voting
Mergers/Acquisitions/Dissolutions will need the support of over 50% of all Governors
Governors will express a view on the Board of Directors’ forward plans
Governors will approve the appointment of the Chief Executive
Governors will appoint and remove Trust Auditors
Governors will receive and approve the Trust’s Annual Reports/Accounts
Governors will appoint, remove and decide the terms of office and remuneration of the Chair and the Non Executive Directors.

It is important to emphasise that the role of Governors is fundamentally different from that of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is responsible for the direct running of the Trust and for the strategic leadership of the whole organisation; assuring high quality performance and delivery of all services.

Governors are not directly involved in:

operational management
individual specific patient or staff issues
handling complaints
confidential patient issues

Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust currently has 30 governors on its Council of Governors:

- 13 elected public Governors
- 4 elected public Service User and Carer Governor
- 7 elected staff Governors
- 6 appointed partner Governors