Cross-committee working – triangulation, assurance and effectiveness 

The Trust wanted to strengthen the triangulation between board sub-committees and to enhance the effectiveness of the board with an integrated governance at all levels of the trust.  

The following practical steps were put in place:  

• A comprehensive review and revision of the organisation’s governance structure  

• The chairs of the quality, finance and performance, workforce and risk and audit committees were invited to sit on each of the other committees 
• The committees produced annual workplans accompanied by a narrative outlining the committee’s strategic priorities and how this aligned with the work of the other committees 
• Items for referral to the board from each sub-board committee meeting included in the Integrated Performance Report to the public board meeting 
• Areas of concern referred back to the committees from the board for deep-dives and further assurance or improvement work. 

Recent examples of benefits and outcomes: 

• Flu vaccination campaign 2019 - The impact of the board’s cultural leadership on this issue is demonstrable in high take-up rate for vaccination 

• Overseas recruitment - cross-committees work enabled the hospital to meet targets set out in the scheme to recruit overseas nurses.

The success to date of this integrated way of committee working provides the board with confidence that the governance foundations are in place to underpin this organisational change. 

To find out more please contact Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust's Communication team.