On 1 April 2025 NHS England (NHSE) published new board member appraisal guidance.

Intended to set clear expectations and enhance consistency in board member appraisals, the guidance applies to chairs, chief executives, non-executive directors (NEDs) and executive directors (EDs) in trusts, foundation trusts (FTs) and integrated care boards (ICBs).

ICB and NHS trust chair appraisals should be sent to NHSE by 30 June, and ICB and NHS trust NEDs by 30 September. Appraisal forms for all other roles (including FT chairs and NEDs) should be held locally.

If appraisals have already been completed or are underway for this year, they do not need to be redone.

The guidance is part of a suite of tools to support leadership and management development following the recommendations of the independent review on Leadership for a collaborative and inclusive future undertaken by General Sir Gordon Messenger and Dame Linda Pollard in 2021. It supersedes Framework for conducting annual appraisals of NHS chairs published in February 2024 and incorporates the NHS leadership competency framework (LCF) domains and Fit and proper persons test framework for board members requirements.

The guidance sets out:

• principles,
• a process,
• assessment ratings, and
• forms.

Trusts and FTs can either adopt these wholesale or incorporate elements into their existing processes as they see fit.

At a minimum, NHSE’s expectation is that the principles will be adopted and the leadership competency framework should form the basis of appraisals, which should also include SMART objectives and a personal development plan.

An overall performance rating against objectives is required but other rating schemes are provided to assess values and behaviours and, for executives only, contribution to improvement.

This briefing provides a summary of the guidance, highlighting the key requirements, and NHS Providers’ view on them. For any questions about this briefing or feedback on the guidance, please get in touch with Izzy Allen at izzy.allen@nhsproviders.org.