Great Western Hospitals

Our structure

As a Foundation Trust we are directly accountable to Parliament and we are regulated by Monitor, the Independent Regulator of Foundation Trusts. The Trust Board has overall responsibility for leading the Trust. The Board has the following key functions:

• To set strategic direction for the Trust, define objectives and agree plans for the Trust
• To monitor performance and ensure corrective action is taken where performance needs to be improved
• To ensure the Trust makes best use of the finances made available to us by the taxpayer
• To ensure high standards of corporate and clinical governance so the services we provide are safe and of a high quality 

The Board consists of:

• The Chair
• Six Non-Executive Directors
• Six Executive Directors, made up of:
• The Chief Executive
• The Medical Director and Deputy Chief Executive
• The Director of Finance and Performance
• The Director of Workforce and Education
• The Chief Nurse
• The Director of Strategy

The Chair is responsible for the overall conduct of the Trust, managing the Board and for appointing and reviewing the performance of the Chief Executive and, with him/her, of other Executive Directors. 

The Non-Executive Directors do not have any managerial or executive responsibilities but are available to provide support, advice and skills and have responsibility for ensuring robust challenge of the Board on matters relating to the Trust. 

The Chief Executive is directly accountable to the Board for ensuring that its decisions are implemented.  The Chief Executive is personally responsible for ensuring that the organisation works effectively in accordance with national policy and good governance and maintains proper financial stewardship. 

The Executive Directors are responsible for the management of the Trust in all its aspects, including the delivery of services, the management of staff and resources and the development of plans and strategies. 

The Board meets on a monthly basis in public and any member of the public is welcome to attend the meeting throughout the year and members of the public are welcome to attend these meetings.  The agenda and papers for these meetings are published in advance on to our website.  Members of the public can also ask a question on matters on the agenda at the meeting. 

For latest board meeting dates and papers.

Council of Governors

Representing the views of our members to the Trust Board is the Council of Governors who have specific statutory responsibilities as set out in our constitution.

The Council of Governors consists of elected and nominated governors who provide an important link between the Trust, local people and key stakeholder organisations by sharing information and views that can be used to develop and improve patient services.  For more information about the Council of Governors including its membership click here.