Chair recruitment process

The Council of Governors, working with the Senior Independent Director and with the support of HR appoint the Chair. This is a rule of the NHS Act 2006 and the Trust constitution. To ensure this happens we follow a procedure that sets out the approach. There is a specific governor committee to carry out this work called the Nominations and Conduct Committee. They make recommendations about the Chair’s appointment for the full Council to approve.

Selection process

The Senior Independent Director and Human Resources support the Nominations and Conduct Committee. They help to develop and approve a timetable and a process for appointing a new Chair. This is then approved by the full Council.

Person specification interviews, testing and stakeholder panels

The Trust contacts staff, experts by experience and other stakeholders. This is to gain their views of the key attributes of a successful Chair.  Key themes from this feedback feed into the person specification. This in turn will help shape the stakeholder panel topic and questions at interview. 

The recruitment process

The recruitment process includes: 

· Longlisting and then shortlisting of candidates.

· Stakeholder groups (including representatives from Governors, Staff, Service Users, Carers, External stakeholders)

· A formal interview (the panel including governors, Non Executive Director, Integrated Care System Chair, experts by experience and chaired by the Senior Independent Director).

The stakeholder panels feedback to the formal interview panel on what they perceive as key strengths for each candidate.  They also identify any areas that may need further exploration. 

The main interview panel handles the selection of a preferred candidate. 

We keep notes of our assessment of the candidates. 

Approval

The Senior Independent Director presents the recommended candidate to the Nominations and Conduct Committee for their agreement. This recommendation is then put to the full Council for approval.

NHS pre appointment checks and a Fit and Proper Persons Test will be undertaken for the recommended candidate.  

Offers of engagement are made subject to the satisfactory completion of these checks. The contract of engagement requires that the individual continues to meet the necessary requirements. 

Appointment of the successful candidate

A discussion is then held at the Nominations and Conduct Committee. This is to agree the salary of the candidate taking account of NHS benchmark information for comparable organisations. This is then recommended to the Council of Governors for approval.