NHS trusts — the board and chairman < Influencers contents | Print this page Board meetings The board membership of NHS trusts is public knowledge, and as with PCTs, NHS influencers will need to ascertain who the members are for account management planning purposes. The regular board meetings are open to the public. As part of their hospital account management plans, both hospital representatives and NHS influencers should consider attending these meetings. Being at these meetings can be a good way of keeping up to date with what is going on and will also help one as far as initial contact and ongoing networking with trust board members, particularly chairs, chief executives and executive directors. Normally, you will not be able to contribute to these meetings and will be there solely as an observer. The board may go into private session, at which point you would be asked to leave. Dates for board meetings are available from the offices of the chief executive/chairman of the trust. The trust chairs are appointed by the NHS Appointments Commission, are ‘lay’ and work part-time. Another good place to network with both trust chairs and chief executives is at the annual conference of the NHS Confederation, held each summer. For some time now the traditional way of working hospitals has been to use account management techniques, but in the new NHS, both hospital representatives and NHS influencers may need to consider extending these plans to the whole organisation — including the board. Non-executive
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