As a member of the public you are welcome to attend part 1 of the NELFT board meeting.

The board meeting is held on the fourth Tuesday of each month starting at 10.30am. As a member of the public you are asked to arrive at 10.15am where you will be greeted by our engagement manager, who will explain briefly what happens in the meeting. You will also receive a copy of the board papers.

At 10.30am you can take your seat in the boardroom.

There are currently 11 voting board members and the balance is in favour of independent non-executive members as is good practice. The trust is required by law to have a chief executive, executive director of finance, senior medic and senior nurse sitting on the board as executive members.

Is there a formal sequence of activities?

Yes - a particular sequence of activities takes place. In your copy of the board papers you will see each of the items in sequence.

1. Patient Journey

Each board meeting starts with a patient journey. A user of NELFT services or a carer is invited to come and share their story with the board, either positive or negative. This allows the board to get a feel for what services are like for patients and enables executive members to address any specific issues with a particular service

2. Standing items

1. The meeting starts with apologies for absence from members who are unable to attend.
2. The second item is declarations of interest. This specifically relates to voting board members who must declare an interest, particularly a financial interest, in any item that may be under discussion. This reduces the likelihood of any conflicts of interest arising
3. Minutes of the last meeting- the minutes from the last meeting held are considered for their accuracy and then agreed
4. Matters arising - any actions from the minutes of the last meeting are updated by the person responsible.

3. Other part 1 items

These are items that are discussed in the public meeting and include the Quality & Safety report, management reports from each of the three health economies and various other items of public interest such as the patient survey, staff survey, health & safety report, estates strategy, etc.

4. AOB and questions from the public

Any other business (AOB) is a chance for board members to raise brief matters that did not appear on the agenda. These are generally kept to a minimum. There is a 10 minute slot at the end of the meeting for members of the public to ask questions or raise issues specifically about items on the agenda.

5. Close of the public meeting

Once all the questions have been asked the Chair will close the public part of the meeting. There will be a short break after which the meeting reconvenes in private. The items that are discussed in the private part of the meeting relate to sensitive or commercially confidential information.