The NHS Confederation believes good governance in the NHS is an essential springboard for modernisation. Getting it right not only enables staff to do a good job but, more critically, it leads to better patient care and allows boards to demonstrate to local people proper accountability for the safe running of their health service.

However, NHS boards face some major challenges, particularly in the kind of intelligence and information they receive and in terms of training and skills of board members. The Intelligent Board report published last year, for instance, argued action was needed to avoid overloading boards with excessive detail and the NHS Confederation has been working to help members translate current guidance into practice.

We would like to see better use of the large amount of data already available in the NHS. For boards to make more informed decisions, data needs to be made available to members in a format that is easily understood. In order to promote innovative approaches and the right skill mix at board level, we also want to see training made available to both executive and non-executive directors where skill gaps have been identified.

The Department of Health published the 'Integrated Governance Handbook' last year to improve governance across the NHS. A key part of our work is to promote national dialogue around what makes an effective board and the challenges boards face.

How we involve members

We hold specific seminars and meetings to inform our policy positions - invitations either appear in our email bulletin Interchange Alert or are sent out individually. We have regular meetings bringing together key stakeholders with NHS Confederation members.

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