Board and committee effectiveness reviews

Enhance your effectiveness with NHS Providers

Why regular reviews matter

Regular board effectiveness reviews are essential to ensure your governance structures, processes, and relationships support you to meet strategic objectives and contribute to the wider health and care system. The Code of Governance for NHS provider trusts (section C, 4.7) recommends external reviews every three to five years to provide independent validation of effectiveness and identify opportunities for improvement.

For foundation trusts, the council of governors should also assess its performance periodically (Code of Governance, section C, 4.8). We can extend our review
to include the council of governors or conduct a separate effectiveness review if required.

Our approach to reviews

NHS Providers delivers board and committee effectiveness reviews that go beyond assessment – we partner with your team to identify clear, actionable improvements.

Our reviews are tailored to your needs and involve:

• document reviews
• interviews
• surveys
• observation of meetings.

This evidence-based approach ensures a thorough, value-driven review by experienced professionals who have a deep understanding of NHS governance.

Why choose NHS Providers?

1. In-depth sector understanding. As the membership organisation for NHS trusts and foundation trusts, we have a thorough understanding of the leadership context and challenges faced by boards in the mental health, acute, community and ambulance sectors.
2. Access to good practice. Through our close engagement with members, we share good practices and bring in diverse perspectives from across the NHS.
3. Experienced reviewers. Our reviewers have been chairs, non-executive directors, executive directors or company secretaries and governance professionals bringing a deep understanding of board governance and assurance flows.
4. Developmental focus. Our reviews are designed to have a lasting, positive impact on your ways of working, supporting long-term development.
5. Competitive rates. As a not-for-profit, membership organisation, we offer competitive rates, ensuring value for your investment.

Fresh eyes that drew on the experiences of a wide number of foundation trusts meant we could be assessed in the context of best practice nationally.

Paul Devlin - Chair, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust    

How we work

Our flexible, collaborative approach can include reviews of the board, committees and council of governors. Reviews can also be extended to key executive and/or operational level meetings if required. We tailor our services to your specific needs, ensuring open communication and consistent feedback throughout the review process.

1. Project initiation. We meet with you to understand your goals and context, then agree on the review’s scope.
2. Diagnostic phase. We review documents and conduct surveys to identify key focus areas.
3. Engagement phase. Through interviews and meeting observations, we gather insights into the forums’ practices.
4. Findings and reporting. We share our draft findings for feedback before delivering the final report and recommendations to your board and council of governors where applicable.

Contact us

For more information or to book your review, contact us at board.development@nhsproviders.org