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Do NHS boards adhere to good corporate governance?

(adapted from a press-release from the Scottish Parliament)

The Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee is undertaking an inquiry into the effectiveness of corporate governance in NHS Boards. This is the third and final stage of its wider inquiry into NHS Governance which has also been looking at staff and clinical governance.

In this next stage, the Committee will assess if NHS boards follow the key principles of good corporate governance it will draw upon Audit Scotland’s ‘Role of Boards Report’ and the Scottish Government’s ‘On Board’ Guidance. The Committee will look at the structures and processes for decision making, accountability, control and behaviour at senior levels of NHS Scotland.

The Committee will be issuing a survey to each member of the NHS territorial boards to encourage board members to share their views and experiences. To widen that perspective, the Committee are calling on individuals and organisations to share their thoughts on how NHS boards work and make decisions. The Health and Sport Committee would like to know:

  • Do you trust NHS Boards to make decisions that are in the best interests of the public?
  • Are NHS board decisions open and transparent?
  • How accountable do you feel NHS boards are?
  • How effective are NHS boards at delivering health services and improving the health of their population?

Convener of the Health and Sport Committee, Neil Findlay MSP said:

For the next stage of the inquiry, we are looking at leadership in the NHS as this underpins the delivery and effectiveness of staff and clinical governance. The Committee would like to hear from health professionals, staff, patients, carers and other members of the public to help us explore key principles of corporate governance in the NHS. We want to understand how well NHSScotland’s policies and systems are operating and learn about its relationships with stakeholders. We want to understand if it is indeed delivering ‘good governance’ and supporting a culture of improvement.

The deadline for written evidence submissions is Wednesday 7 February 2018.

Background

Further information regarding this call for evidence session is available here.

Further information on the NHS Governance inquiry is available here.

The Committee intend to hear directly from witnesses in late February.