The Board of Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the organisation and making sure that it is delivered.
The Board is led by a non-executive Chairman appointed by the Secretary of State for Health, via NHS Improvement. The Board includes five other non-executive directors, also appointed via NHS Improvement. Non-executive directors are people with a connection to the area that the Trust serves. They are not employed by the organisation; rather they bring wider experience and an independent perspective to the Board.
The Board includes the Chief Executive and six executive directors (although only four have voting rights, should Board decisions require a vote). The Chief Executive and the executive directors are full-time salaried members of staff.
All Board members are required to declare any interests they have that have the potential to conflict with the decisions being made by the organisation. The Register of Directors’ Interests is updated annually, and published in the Annual Governance Statement and in the Trust Annual Report. It is also updated each time there is a new Board member. Each Board meeting also asks for any interests to be declared at the start.