You are welcome to attend the meeting of the Board of directors in public. The meeting is a meeting of the Board of Directors held in public to provide an opportunity for staff, users of our services and members of the public to understand how the Board of Directors performs some of its duties.

Attending in Person 

To attend the meeting of the Board of Directors (in public), please note that you are required to register in advance by sending an email to corporate.affairs@nelft.nhs.uk  or phone 0300 555 1300. Please register not later than 5 working days before the meeting.

You would be informed if there are any seats available for in person attendance. Please do not attend the meeting in person if you have not been notified that your seat has been reserved.

On the meeting day, we ask that you arrive not later than 15 minutes before the meeting starts. Report to the reception area where your attendance will be recorded and also be briefed by the corporate affairs team.  If you arrive early, you may be asked to wait in the reception area until the meeting is about to start when you would be ushered into the meeting venue. For late arrivals, you may be asked to join the meeting online.

Remember to download the meeting papers from the trust website before the meeting

Attending online

All public meetings of the Board of Directors are livestreamed, and you may be able to join the meeting via Ms Teams.

You may request for the meeting link by emailing corporate.affairs@nelft.nhs.uk.

When joining online, please consider the following:

• Log in early before the start of the meeting, to ensure a good connection
• Please keep your microphone on the ‘mute’ setting during the meeting
• The meeting moderators may switch off your video feed to reduce bandwidth. You will still be able to see all active participants
• If you are experiencing technical issues, please feel free to leave the meeting and rejoin.
• If you cannot hear the Board discussion and believe it is caused by an issue from our end, please leave a message in the chat box. 
• We will show closed captions (subtitles) for those who find hearing what is being said during online meetings a challenge. Instructions for showing/hiding subtitles can be found here: Use live captions in Microsoft Teams meetings - Microsoft Support

Recording Notice 

Meetings of the Board of Directors are recorded for minuting purposes only. Attendees are not permitted to record the meeting.

By attending the meeting either virtually or in person (face to face) you are agreeing that you will not record in either video or audio format the meeting in whole or part.

Meeting Etiquette

The meeting is led by the Chair who determines the order of activities for the meeting with the meeting agenda. Speaking during the meeting at any instance is on the permission of the chair. We ask that all participants participate in the meeting with keen interest and only speak when the chair permits. As time may be limited and the meeting is guided by an agenda, it may be impossible to accept all requests to speak and you may use other communication channel preferably  corporate.affairs@nelft.nhs.uk. to communicate with the Trust.

For security reasons and in the interests of other attendees, you may be asked to leave the meeting for improper conducts or disruptive behaviour.

Questions 

Questions relating to the agenda items must be submitted by noon two days before the meeting to corporate.affairs@nelft.nhs.uk. We will endeavour to provide answers at the meeting or where impossible either due to time or the level of details required, responses may be sent in writing afterwards, if contact details are provided.

Questions submitted in the meeting chat box or during the meeting from the public item on the Agenda may be answered on the day where possible; alternatively, we will provide a full reply following the meeting.

Other questions and feedback can also be submitted outside of meetings through our normal communication channels.

Sequence of activities 

The meeting is chaired and led by the Chair. 

Standing items

• The meeting starts with the Chair welcoming all in attendance and noting apologies for absence from members who are unable to attend.
• The Chair also takes note of any declarations of interest in matters to be discussed at the meeting. 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
• Minutes of the last meeting- the minutes from the last meeting held are considered and then agreed if true and correct record of the meeting held.
• Matters arising - any actions from the minutes of the last meeting are updated by the person responsible.

Patient Story 

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

Assurance Reports 

The Trust Board operates through committees which focuses on the performance of the Trust in greater details on behalf of the Board. NELFT Board of directors has the following committees:

• Audit & Risk Committee
• Finance & Investment Committee
• Partnerships & Integrated Care Committee
• Patient Leadership Committee
• People & Culture Committee
• Quality and Safety Committee
• Remuneration Committee

These committees provide assurance to the Board of Directors on areas within the committee’s remit.

Any other Business & Close of the Meeting 

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.

The Chair may allow pre-submitted questions to be answered at this time if it relates to the items on the agenda.

Once all the questions have been asked the Chair will close the public part of the meeting.

Leaving the venue

All attendees must leave the premises not later than 30 minutes after the close of the meeting for security reasons. Please let a member of the corporate affairs team be aware if you require any assistance in leaving the premises.