Agenda Item 2
Council of Governors
Council of Governors
Thirtieth Meeting of the Council of Governors
Thursday, 31 March 2011
6.00pm - 7.50pm
Seminar Room, Training in Education Centre, Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading
Present
Mr. Colin Maclean (Chairman of the Trust)
Ms. Deborah Sander (Vice Chair of Governors)
Mrs. Elizabeth Aylward (Staff Governor, Nursing and Midwifery)
Mr. Trevor Beaumont (Public Governor, Reading)
Mrs. Caroline Bowder (Public Governor, Southern Oxfordshire)
Mr. Ian Clay (Public Governor, West Berkshire)
Ms. Margie Cutts (Public Governor, Reading)
Mrs. Vera Doe (Public Governor, Wokingham)
Cllr. Geoff Findlay (Partner Governor, West Berkshire Council)
Dr. Warren Fisher (Staff Governor, Medical & Dental)
Mrs. Sally Kemp (Partner Governor, NHS South Central)
Mr. Sanusi Koroma (Partner Governor, Reading CRE)
Mr. Colin Lee MBE (Public Governor, West Berkshire)
Mr. Andrew Maxted (Public Governor, Reading)
Ms. Sue Mears (Staff Governor, Administrative and Clerical)
Mr David Mihell (Public Governor, East Berkshire)
Cllr. Bob Pitts (Partner Governor, Wokingham Borough Council)
Ms. Moyra Pugh (Staff Governor, Allied Health Professionals)
Mr. John Shaw (Partner Governor, Princess Royal Carers Trust)
Mr. Tony Skuse (Public Governor, Wokingham)
In attendance
Professor Nigel Davies (Chief Nurse and Director of Public & Patient Affairs)
Mr. Ed Donald (Chief Executive)
Dr. Keith Eales (Director of Corporate Affairs & Secretary)
Apologies
Governors
Cllr. Daisy Benson (Partner governor, Reading Borough Council)
Professor Diane Berry (Partner Governor, University of Reading)
Mrs. Aileen Blackley (Public Governor, West Berkshire)
Mr. Carl Bruce (Public Governor, Reading)
Mr. Ross Carroll (Public Governor, East Berkshire)
Ms. Penny Henrion (Partner Governor, NHS Berkshire West)
Mr. John McKenzie (Public Governor, Wokingham)
1
Council of Governors 31 March 2011
Others
Mr. John Barrett (Non-Executive Director)
Mr. Tim Caiger (Non-Executive Director)
Mr. Ken Hydon (Non-Executive Director)
Ms. Irene Inskip (Deputy Chair of the Trust)
Mr. Rajinder Sohpal (Non-Executive Director)
13/11 Minutes for Approval : 27 January 2011
The minutes of the meeting held on 27 January 2011 were approved as a correct record
and signed by the Chairman.
14/11 Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
15/11 Membership of the Council
The Director of Corporate Affairs & Secretary submitted a report setting out changes to the
membership of the Council.
The Council noted that Charlotte Evans had been elected for the East Berkshire & Borders
Constituency and that Penny Henrion had been appointed by NHS Berkshire West as a
partner Governor. A further election would be held in the healthcare and ancillary worker
constituency as no nominations had been received for the vacant position.
Resolved: that the report be noted.
16/11 Young persons Representative
The Director of Corporate Affairs & Secretary submitted a report setting out a proposal for
the cooption of a young person’s representative as an adviser to the Council.
The Director of Corporate Affairs & Secretary reminded the Council that the Constitution
made provision for a Youth MP to be a Partner Governor. The position had been vacant for
some time and, historically, when the position had been filled, the short nature of the term
of office of a Youth MP had given the individuals concerned limited opportunity to contribute
to the work of the Council.
The Director of Corporate Affairs & Secretary suggested that, pending a review of the
Constitution, the Council might wish to consider co-opting a youth representative as an
advisor. Josh Harsant, the recent Youth MP for Reading had indicated a wish to support the
Council in this way.
The Partner Governor for Wokingham Council indicated that, in recent discussions, the
current Youth MP for Wokingham had expressed an interest in taking up the position of
Partner Governor. Councillor Pitts agreed to pursue this. Councillor Pitts
The Council welcomed the opportunity to appoint an adviser on youth matters. The Council
considered that the co-option should be in addition to an appointment of a Youth MP.
Council of Governors 31 March 2011 2
Council of Governors 31 March 2011
Resolved: that
(a) Josh Harsant be co-opted as a youth adviser to the Council
(b) Further discussions be held with Wokingham Council regarding the appointment
of a Youth MP as a Partner Governor.
17/11 Public Questions
There were no questions from the public.
18/11 Items from the Governors
There were no items from Governors.
19/11 Minutes of the Membership Committee: 16 March 2011
The Chair of the membership Committee submitted the minutes of the meeting held on 16
March 2011.
The Chair drew particular attention to the proposed membership target of 1500 for the year.
Whilst this was significantly less than the targets set in recent years, it reflected a balance
between the wish to continue increasing the membership of the Trust, which was
significantly in excess of the foundation trust average of just under 14,000, and the cost in
supporting members who joined. The Chair explained that the Committee was proposing
that the recruitment of 1500 members should be undertaken by Governors, rather than
employing the services of recruitment companies. The Committee considered that this was
feasible, given the current level of recruitment by Governors. The recruitment target and
approach to recruiting members were agreed.
The Chairman explained that the Committee had considered the Old Town Hall in Reading
as a possible alternative site for the Annual Members Meeting. Unfortunately, parking
would be a problem for visitors and the venue did not allow sufficient space for stands.
Resolved: that the minutes be received and the recommendations therein be
endorsed.
20/11 Chairman’s Briefing
The Chairman introduced his briefing to the Council.
The Chairman congratulated the Council on achieving a membership figure of over 23,000
and for the programme of engagement events which continued to be heavily
oversubscribed.
The Chairman referred to the quarter 3 response from Monitor, which indicated a financial
risk rating of 3 and a green governance risk rating. The green governance rating reflected
the fact that C Diff was within trajectory at the end of the quarter.
The Chairman explained that the Board had devoted considerable time at recent meetings
to reviewing the implementation of the 2010/11 annual plan and agreeing the 2011/12 plan.
The Chairman explained that the 2011/12 plan would be submitted to the Strategy
Committee. Keith Eales
Council of Governors 31 March 2011 3
Council of Governors 31 March 2011
The Chairman explained that the Board had been discussing the implementation of the
Electronic Patient Record and, as a precursor to this, the outsourcing of the IT service. The
Council sought clarification of the timing of the outsourcing. The Chairman explained that a
preferred bidder had been appointed. Various detailed contract issues would be discussed
over the next few weeks prior to the contract being signed.
The Council sought an update on the financial position of the Trust. The Chief Executive
advised that it was anticipated that the year end surplus, for reinvestment in clinical
services, would be in the region of £2m.
The Council noted the summary Board minutes for January and February 2011.
Resolved: that report be noted.
21/11 Chief Executive’s Briefing
The Chief Executive introduced his report to the Council.
The Chief Executive drew attention to
The latest Care for the Future recommendations regarding the designation of the
Trust in respect of hyper acute and specialist services.
Progress in preparing for the implementation of the Electronic Patient Record
The plans for the opening of the Bracknell Clinic in May 2011.
Continuing impressive results in respect of patient feedback, which was the best in
the region, and a year on year decrease in the number of complaints.
Healthcare outcomes which continued to move towards ‘better than expected’
A run rate surplus for February of £395,000
Governors discussed the decision of Reading Council to adopt the national conditions for
the use of bus passes and the impact that this would have on volunteers. In future, it would
not be possible to use bus passes before 9.30am. It was recognised that this could
increase the demands on the limited budget for the reimbursement of expenses to
volunteers.
Governors discussed the continuing concerns with regard to the hospital transport service.
The Chief Executive asked that Governors provide him with details of their concerns, which
he would then discuss with the Chief Executive of the Ambulance Trust.
Governors sought clarification with regard to target breaches in Orthopaedics, which had
been discussed by the Board. The Chief Executive explained that this reflected a national
problem of insufficient capacity to meet a growing demand. The Trust was considering a
number of initiatives to increase capacity.
Council of Governors 31 March 2011 4
Council of Governors 31 March 2011
The Council sought clarification with regard to whether or not the Trust had made staff
redundant over the course of the year. The Chief Executive explained that there had been
some redundancies. However, the Trust had been successful in redeploying individuals to
vacant posts which were required to deliver patient care, thereby minimising redundancy
costs whilst still making savings on the pay bill. The Chief Executive confirmed that the
Trust was actively recruiting to clinical posts.
The Council sought clarification with regard to the payment of bonuses to Trust staff in
2010/11. The Chief Executive confirmed that no bonuses had been paid to staff in the year.
Resolved: that the report be noted.
22/11 Minutes of Meetings
The Council received the following minutes of meetings:
Governors Assurance and Strategy Committee Joint Meeting 8 February 2011
Joint Meeting of the Board and Council 15 March 2011
The Chair of each meeting drew attention to the key issues discussed and set out the
recommendations being made to the Council.
It was noted that the joint meeting of the Assurance and Strategy Committees had received
a presentation on the Quality Account. The Chairman of the Trust explained that the final
Quality Account would be submitted to the Board for final approval in May. The meeting
had also received a presentation from the Chair of the Board Audit Committee on the work
of that Committee.
The meeting discussed the format and content for future meetings between the Board and
the Council. There was broad agreement that the format adopted for the two most recent
meetings could be improved upon. It was considered that the meeting should allow an
opportunity for wide-ranging discussion on matters of mutual interest and informal
discussions between Governors and Board Directors. It was agreed that it would be
appropriate for interested Governors to develop proposals for future meetings.
Resolved: that
(a) the minutes be received and the recommendations therein be endorsed
(b) Deborah Sander, Sue Mears, Vera Doe, Margie Cutts, John Shaw and Warren
Fisher develop proposals for the format and content of future joint meetings
between the Board and Council of Governors. Keith Eales
23/11 Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Council would be held on 26 May 2011 at 6.00pm.
SIGNED
DATE
Council of Governors 31 March 2011 5