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Throughout our membership activities, the Trust Following the introduction in November 2014 by
endeavours to ensure that all the communities that the CQC of the Fit and Proper Persons test, the
it serves are provided every opportunity to become Board amended the documentation and processes
an engaged member. It is our intention to continue to associated with directors’ appointments, which
maintain our membership population at around 13,500 have been built into a revised Recruitment Policy
overall but with a focus on recruitment of more children to incorporate all relevant checks both prior to
and young people as members in the coming year. appointment and on an annual basis for all incumbent
This strategy will be carried out in line with the Trust’s directors, this includes an additional proactive
Quality Strategy and with all legislation pertaining to declaration in relation to the requirement.
equality and diversity issues.
The Board of Directors operates to clear terms of
A number of mechanisms will be used for membership reference and an annual work plan which reflect the
engagement including: Trust’s constitution and Provider Licence and which
are in turn supported by detailed Standing Financial
• Regular newsletters
Instructions and Standing Orders, a scheme of
• E-mail bulletins delegation and a Schedule of Matters Reserved for
the Board, which are set out in the Trust’s Corporate
• Greater social media presence and as a method to
elicit feedback Governance Manual and Constitution.
• Annual Members’ Meeting It is the role of the Board to set the organisation’s

• External consultations, e.g. Springfield Park strategic direction in the context of an overall
operational planning framework set by NHS regulators.
• Trust consultations
It is responsible for all key business decisions but
• Participation in elections to the Council of Governors. delegates the operationalisation of these to an
appropriate committee or the Trust’s Operational
Membership Profile Delivery Board in order to receive assurance that the
organisation is fulfilling its responsibilities including
compliance with standards and targets and the
Constituency Number of Number of conditions set out in the Trust’s Provider Licence.
Members Members
2017/18 2018/19
(Actual as at 31st (Planned) The Board meets on the first Tuesday of each month,
with the exception of August. Board meetings are fully
March 2018) and accurately minuted, including challenges and
Public 3,696 3,818 concerns of individual directors as appropriate. The
Chairman meets separately with the Non-Executive
Patients & 5,375 6,814 Directors directly before each meeting. All Board
Parent Carer
meetings are held in public; dates, times and agendas
Staff 3,023 3,101 are published on the Trust’s website prior to meetings
Total 13,309 13,733 and the papers posted shortly after. The Board’s
agenda is structured around the Trust’s strategic
priorities set out in the overarching plan. Each meeting
begins with a patient story which is designed to ensure
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS that patients remain at the centre of all discussions
and decisions. At each meeting the Board receives a
The Trust’s Constitution provides for a Board of corporate performance report which describes in detail
Directors which is comprised of no more than seven how the organisation has performed against key local
Executive and no more than eight Non-Executive and national metrics, including a Quality Report which
Directors including the Chairman. All Director roles focuses on progress against the Trust’s quality aims.
have been occupied during 2017/18 in accordance Accompanying the performance information is the
with the policy developed by the Trust in support of Board Assurance Framework which demonstrates to
the Constitution. The Trust considers that it operates a the Board how the principal risks to the organisation’s
balanced, complete and unified Board with particular business are being controlled and mitigated.
emphasis on achieving the optimum balance of
appropriate skills and experience; this is reviewed
whenever any vacancy arises and was rigorously tested
in the year as part of the process to appoint Executive
Directors and re-appoint Non-Executive Directors.

Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust 62 Annual Report & Accounts 2017/18