Welcome to Our Board
The Board of Directors is accountable for our vision, strategy, the way we run our services and our finances.
As per our Trust Constitution, the Board of Directors is to comprised of up to 15 voting members:
- Non-Executive Director Chair
- up to a maximum of 7 other Non-Executive Directors (currently one vacancy)
- up to a maximum of 7 Executive Directors, one of whom is the Chief Executive.
The Board meetings also include other employed directors of the Trust who are in attendance and contribute to discussions with their particular expertise and areas of responsibility.
The Board brings together individuals from a variety of backgrounds and together they share corporate responsibility and accountability for all decisions that they collectively make, acting as a unitary Board.
The Board has a range of committees (statutory and non-statutory), chaired by non-executive directors, that have key roles in relation to audit, risk, quality, safety, finance, performance, workforce and the Trust’s charity. Each of the committees submits from the Chair of the Committee an assurance report to each public meeting of the Board (every two months), which outlines key issues considered and highlights any risks and/or areas of development that the Board needs to be apprised of. There is cross membership between Committees to support the connection between the business of key committees and also to seek to integrate assurance reporting where relevant.
The current Board membership is as follows:
Non-Executive Directors - Voting
- Chair
- Senior Independent Director/Non-Executive Director
- Non-Executive Director - Chair of Quality Committee
- Non-Executive Director - Chair of Audit and Assurance Committee
- Non-Executive Director - Chair of People Committee
- Non-Executive Director - Chair of Finance Committee
- Non-Executive Director - Chair of Charitable Funds Committee
- Non-Executive Director - Vacancy
Executive Directors - Voting
- Chief Executive Officer
- Executive Director of Operations (Deputy Chief Executive)
- Executive Director of Finance and Infrastructure
- Executive Director of Strategy and Transformation
- Executive Director of Quality Patient Care (Registered Nurse)
- Executive Medical Director (Registered Medical Practitioner)
- Executive Director of People (currently on Maternity Leave)
Five directors of the Trust are also in attendance at Board meetings:
- Director of Paramedic Practice
- Chief Digital and Information Officer
- Director of Communications and Public Affairs
- Interim Director of People Operations - Non-Voting
- Interim Director of People Strategy and OD - Non-Voting
To view the Boards profiles please click here (please note these profiles are currently being updated)
Executive Directors
Our Executive Directors are responsible for the operational management of the Trust. They are a part of the Board as well as being employees of the Trust. They are lead by the Chief Executive.
Non-Executive Directors
Non-Executive Directors make sure the Board acts in the interests of our patients and community. They are members of the public and they're appointed for a set period of time for their skills and experience.
Trust Chairman
The Trust Chair is one of the Non-Executive Directors and undertakes a dual role as Chair of the Board of Directors as well as the Council of Governors. This means that the Chair is responsible for leading both the Board and the Council of Governors to ensure that they are working together effectively.
The Board also include the Deputy Chair who deputises for the Chair when appropriate and a Senior Independent Director (SID) who is appointed by the Board made in consultation with the Council of Governors. The SID should act as the point of contact with the Board of Directors if Governors have concerns which approaches through normal channels have failed to resolve or for which such approaches are inappropriate. The SID may also act as the point of contact with the Board for Governors when they discuss for example the Chair's performance.
The Board works closely with our Council of Governors who represents the views of our local community.
Contacting the Board
All Board members may be contacted via the Corporate Governance Team corporate.meeting@swast.nhs.uk South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Abbey Court, Eagle Way, Exeter, EX2 7HY.