Our council of governors represent the interests of the communities we serve, and is made up of patients, public, staff and local public sector organisations.  

Its role is to ensure the voice of our members, the public, patients and staff is used to inform our trust’s decisions and improve medical care and patient experience.

The council also acts as a source of ideas about how we can best provide healthcare services to meet the needs of members and the wider local community, and ensures we follow NHS values, principles and the terms of our provider licence.

Governors are not paid but reasonable expenses, which do not include loss of earnings, will be reimbursed for travel to meetings or other locations as part of their governor responsibilities. 

Read our governors' travelling expenses document to find out more

Latest agenda and papers

Next council of governors meeting

    • Formal council of governors’ meeting

      Event date and time: 29 April 2024, 6:00pm to 7:30pm

      Event Categories:

      • Governor meetings
    • Formal council of governors’ meeting

      Event date and time: 29 July 2024, 6:00pm to 7:30pm

      Event Categories:

      • Governor meetings
    • Formal council of governors’ meeting

      Event date and time: 21 October 2024, 6:00pm to 7:30pm

      Event Categories:

      • Governor meetings

Our council of governors:

  • Work with our board to produce plans for the future development of our trust.
  • Represent our members’ views. 
  • Receive copies of our annual accounts, auditor’s reports and annual reports at a public meeting.
  • Agree the payment levels of non-executive directors (including the chairman).
  • Appoint/remove the chairman, non-executive directors and our external auditor.
  • Approve the appointment of the chief executive.
  • Ensure our board acts in accordance with our trust’s identified aims and fulfils the requirements of NHS England.
  • Act in an advisory capacity to contribute to the strategic direction of our trust.
  • Adhere to our code of conduct.
  • Attend meetings of the council of governors (four a year) as well as extraordinary council meetings and governor induction sessions.
  • Attend the annual general meeting and any other meetings identified by the council.

Governors also have the opportunity to sit as observers on board committees, chair Medicine for Members' events  and hold 'governors' surgeries' to engage with our members. 

If you would like to contact the governors, please email our lead governor, Sneha Bedi, at rf.governors@nhs.net.

The council of governors is not responsible for the day-to-day running of our trust, which is the responsibility of our board.

Governor elections 2024

Notice of elections

Notice is hereby given that elections will be held for the council of governors of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. Elections are to be held in the following constituencies

Constituency

Number of seats

Patient constituency

2

Public (Camden, Barnet, Enfield and Hertfordshire) constituency 

1

Public (Rest of England) constituency 1
Staff constituency 1

To stand for election you must be a member of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust in the
constituency for which you wish to stand for election.

You can submit your nomination online by visiting mi-nomination.com/royalfree

If you have any questions about the nomination process or would like the nomination form in another
format please contact us:

Want to know more?

If you would like to know more about the governor role please register to attend our virtual information session on Thursday 21 March at 6.00pm or contact our membership team. Visit mi-nomination.com/royalfree or contact rf.membership@nhs.net for more information.

Completed nominations must be received by the returning officer by 11.59pm on Thursday 28 March 2024.

If you wish to withdraw, you must write to the returning officer by 5.00pm on Thursday 4 April 2024. There will be an election if there are more candidates than places available. We will send voting information to members.

The returning officer must receive completed votes by 5.00pm on Friday 10 May 2024.

Tony Slater (returning officer)
12 March 2024