New council of governors elected for Worcestershire hospitals trust (From Bromsgrove Advertiser)

New council of governors elected for Worcestershire hospitals trust

12:11pm Wednesday 17th March 2010

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AFTER a series of closely fought contests, and with all votes now counted, the winners have emerged in the first ever elections to a new council of governors for the Alexandra, Kidderminster and Worcestershire Royal hospitals.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the three hospitals, is in the final stages of gaining Foundation Trust (FT) status. That process took another major step forward with the announcement of results in the inaugural elections for staff and public governors.

There are now 15 new public governors, five staff governors and seven appointed governors on the new council.

Trust chief executive John Rostill hailed the formation of the council as “an historic moment for the trust, our staff, our patients and the people of Worcestershire”.

Trust chairman Michael O’Riordan said: “I would like to welcome our new governors and I hope their time with the trust is productive and enjoyable.

“The governors will be responsible for representing the views of the Foundation Trust membership and I believe their individual skills and knowledge of the local community will be invaluable.”

Among the elected public governors was Evelyn Meredith and Michael Clements for Bromsgrove, Moira Morris and Paul Lowe for Redditch and Amanda Adams, David Allison and Marie Greer for Wychavon.

John Rostill added: “With our governors now in post, we have the opportunity to really move forward with our plans to involve local people more in the development of the hospitals.

“Once we become a Foundation Trust, the governors will have a number of roles including commenting on the trust’s future plans for service developments and communicating with members in their individual constituencies. “The council will also be responsible for appointing and removing the chairman and non-executive directors of the trust, approving the appointment of the chief executive and appointing the trust’s external auditors.

“We are now in the final stage of our application – a period of intense scrutiny by Monitor, the independent regulator of Foundation Trusts. We hope to become authorised as a Foundation Trust on May 1.”

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