Council of Governors Elections

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust (SCFT) is the main provider of community health and care in West Sussex, Brighton & Hove and adult community services in High Weald Lewes Havens. Established in 2010 and authorised as a Foundation Trust in 2016, we care for over 9,000 people a day, mostly in their own homes.

We aim to keep the communities and individuals we serve healthy and independent and we care for people right across the age range, from new born babies to people at the end of their life.

The majority of NHS care is provided in the community. Caring for people at home rather than in acute hospitals requires a different and innovative set of skills and approaches. The Trust is forward thinking and proud of the quality of care it delivers.

In 2017 we were inspected by the healthcare regulator, the Care Quality Commission, and achieved a rating of ‘Good’ with outstanding features for the quality of our services in January 2018.

We aim to continually improve and part of our strategy to do this is to:

• Involve local people and staff more directly in decisions about the way services are planned and delivered.
• Be more accountable to the public we serve for the services we provide.
• Develop stronger links with our local communities through our members.

Individually and collectively, Governors play an important role in the work of the Trust. Some of the ways in which they make a real difference are:

• Representing members on key issues and consulting them on important matters such as service developments.
• Helping shape our future strategy and the services we provide.
• Participating in the selection and appointment of the chair of the Trust Board and its non-executive directors.
• Engaging with and recruiting members to help us grow our membership base.

The role of Governor requires a degree of commitment, as a minimum attending four formal meetings each year, but many of our Governors choose to be more involved and the level of involvement is entirely up to you. The positions are voluntary, but reasonable expenses are paid.

Our Governors come from all walks of life and have a great variety of experience and knowledge. If you are interested, but unsure if it is for you, we know anyone who can answer yes to the following questions would make a great Governor:

• Are you passionate about the health and wellbeing of people?
• Would you like to develop your understanding of community health services?
• Would you like to meet people living or working in your area, who receive care from the Trust, and to share their thoughts and ideas?
• Are you able to give time to come to meetings?

Full training will be provided both on induction and regularly throughout your term of office.

The Council of Governors represent the people we serve, the staff who provide our services and the partners we work with. It consists of three groups:

• Public Governors elected by members of the Trust from their own area (constituency) who form the majority - 15 out of 28 Governors.
• Five Staff Governors elected by our staff.
• Eight Appointed Governors who are decided by the Trust and the organisations we work closely with.

The following Governor seats will be available for nomination/application from Friday 6 January to Monday 23 January 2023:

Governor terms are three years in duration.

Below are the details of the key dates:

Members in the relevant constituencies will shortly be invited to vote in the elections but first we invite relevant members and the public to consider putting themselves forward as a candidate to become a Governor.

The deadline to register your interest is: 5pm Monday 23 January 2023.

If you’d like to know more/register your interest please contact Civica Election Services (CES), the independent organisation we have appointed to manage this process. Full contact details are below:

To contact ERS:

• Call: 020 8889 9203

• Email: ftnominationenquiries@cesvotes.com

• Text: 2FT SC and your name and address to 88802

• Online: www.cesvotes.com/scftelections23 (available from Friday 6 January 2023)

CES will send you a nomination form, which details how you put yourself forward for nomination, who to contact for guidance and where to return your form.

If more people put themselves forward to be a Governor in a constituency than the number of Governors seats available in that area, we will hold elections in that constituency.

These will be run independently by CES. Ballot papers will be distributed to all members directly with details of the candidates standing.

If the same number of eligible candidates has put themselves forward in a constituency with the same number of seats available, they will be elected without a vote.