Translate
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: 28 July 2025, 6:00pm to 7:30pm
Event Categories:
-
Governor meetings
-
-
-
-
Formal Council of Governors' meeting
Event date and time: 27 October 2025, 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-tr.
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 2025
The nomination period for the Council of Governors elections is now open. You can read the Notice of Election below.
There are four vacancies in the patient constituency, three in the public (Camden, Barnet, Enfield, Haringey and Hertfordshire) constituency and three in the staff constituency.
If you are interested in standing, you can find out more about the role and how to put yourself forward as a candidate here. The deadline is 11.59pm on Monday 7 July.
All eligible members have received a message from our independent election provider, Mi-Voice, inviting them to stand in this year’s elections. If you do not receive this information, please contact support
Notice of Election
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 | 4 |
| Public constituency (Camden, Barnet, Enfield, Haringey and Hertfordshire) |
3 |
| Staff constituency | 3 |
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.
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 our independent election provider via email: support
Want to Know more?
If you would like to know more about the governor role, please register to attend our virtual information session on Wednesday 2 July at 6.00pm or contact our membership team.
Completed nominations must be received by the returning officer by 11.59pm on Monday 7 July 2025. If you wish to withdraw, you must write to the returning officer by 5.00pm on Thursday 10 July 2025.
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 Thursday 14 August 2025.
Tony Slater, returning officer, 19 June 2025
Our governors
Governors’ names and the constituency that elected them are held on a public register along with details of any potential conflict of interest — a political affiliation, for example.
- Details of all interests declared by our governors can be found in the council of governors' meeting papers
