The Trust Board is chaired by Colin Drummond OBE DL and has overall responsibility for corporate governance and the development of systems and processes, ensuring we manage our resources and risks appropriately to deliver safe, high quality services to our patients.

Our Trust Board is made up of executive and non-executive directors who bring external expertise to our trust and provide advice and guidance to our executive directors.

Regular updates are given by the Trust Board, which reports to trust members and to the public through Trust Board meetings and Council of Governors meetings. The Part A section of the Trust Board meetings are open to the public and information about how to access the meetings and the meeting dates and papers can be found on our Trust Board meetings page.

The Trust Board has signed up to the Standards for Members of NHS Boards and Governing bodies developed by the Professional Standards Authority which are available online. Standards for Members 

Our Trust Board has seven sub-committees. A summary of the remit for each sub-committee is provided below.

Audit Committee

Chaired by Paul Mapson

The role of the committee is to provide assurance to the Trust Board, along with the Quality and Governance Assurance Committee, that the trust is properly governed and well managed across the full range of its clinical and non-clinical activities in accordance with the trust’s strategic objectives, using its authority delegated by the Trust Board.

Finance Committee

Chaired by Martyn Scrivens

The role of the committee is to provide assurance to the Trust Board that the trust is properly governed and well managed across the full range of its financial activities in accordance with the Trust’s strategic objectives, using its authority delegated by the Trust Board. The committee provides objective review and assurance to the Trust Board that financial management processes are effective and support the delivery of the trust’s operational and long term financial plans.

Charity Committee

Chaired by Graham Hughes

The Charity Committee has been established to exercise the trust’s functions as sole corporate trustee of Somerset NHS Foundation Trust’s Charity (registered charity number 1059922). It monitors the performance of all aspects of the charity’s activities and ensures that it adheres to the principles of good governance and complies with all relevant legal requirements.

Quality and Governance Assurance Committee

Chaired by Jan Hull

The role of the committee is to provide assurance to the Board, along with the Audit Committee, that the trust is properly governed and well managed across the full range of its clinical activities in accordance with the Trust’s strategic objectives, using its authority delegated by the Trust Board. The committee provides objective review and assurance to the Trust Board that governance and risk management processes are effective, supporting the delivery of the trust’s clinical strategy and the functioning of the trust’s assurance framework and risk management systems, as overseen by the Audit Committee.

Mental Health Act Committee

Chaired by Alexander Priest

The role of the committee is to provide assurance to the Trust Board that the trust is governed appropriately in relation to the implementation of the Mental Health Act 1983 and related legislation, using its authority delegated by the Trust Board.  The committee performs its functions in the context of the guiding principles of the Mental Health Act Code of Practice.

People Committee

Chaired by Kate Fallon

The role of the committee is to provide assurance to the Trust Board that the trust is properly governed and well managed across the full range of its people and organisational development activities in accordance with the trust’s strategic objectives, using its authority delegated by the Trust Board. The committee provides objective review and assurance to the Trust Board that the people and organisational development governance and risk management processes are effective, supporting the delivery of the people strategy and the functioning of the trust’s assurance framework and risk management systems, as overseen by the Audit Committee.

Nomination and Remuneration Committee

Chaired by Colin Drummond (for nomination element)

Kate Fallon (for remuneration element)

The committee has delegated responsibility and accountability from the Trust Board for setting the remuneration and terms of service for all executive directors and selected senior management and all employees on spot salaries, and for establishing the process for the identification and nomination of executive directors and for ensuring organisational resilience by reviewing the process for succession planning.