What do governors do?
The governors work with the Trust on your behalf. They represent your interests. You can help them carry out their role effectively by giving them your views. Tell them how you think services could be improved. Pass on the ideas and suggestions you feel would enhance patient care or the working lives of staff. Let them know what you think your Trust should offer.
The role of your governor includes:
- Representing the interests and views of all their constituency members, the general public and staff across the organisation
- Giving you information about the Trust, its vision and its performance
- Selecting and appointing the non-executive directors and the chairman
- Approving the appointment of the chief executive
- Attending meetings of the Council of Governors
- Monitoring performance against the trust’s strategy and other targets
- Holding our Non-Executive Directors to account for the performance of the Board of Directors
- Approving the remuneration of the chairman and non-executive directors
- Supporting other governors, and each other, to understand how the Trust operates
How is the council of Governors organised?
There are 32 members of the Council of Governors.
Our Council of Governors is made up of public governors, staff governors, a patient governor and appointed governors.
Public governors
There are 16 governors who are elected by the public membership constituency in elections.
There are two public constituencies of Central & Eastern, and Western Gateshead with ten and six governors respectively.
Download a map of the areas covered by each governor (pdf)
Staff Governors
Staff governors communicate with staff members and feed the views of staff back to the Council of Governors and into any working groups or committees they are part of. Staff governors advise the Council of Governors of the impact of decisions on staff, and advise on how staff can contribute to improving services for patients.
They advise staff of work undertaken by the Council of Governors and seek their views. The Trust works with the staff governors to develop effective ways to make sure this happens. As ambassadors, staff governors seek to engage with staff as much as possible about the work of the Council of Governors and the Trust, and encourage staff to remain part of the Foundation Trust membership so they can influence the formal governance structures of the Trust at Council of Governor meetings. Working alongside the rest of the Council of Governors, staff governors ensure that the Trust works to fulfil its aims and purpose.
Appointed Governors
There are nine appointed governors. The organisations authorised by the trust’s constitution to be appointed to the Council of Governors are:
- Gateshead College
- Gateshead Council
- Gateshead Healthwatch
- Gateshead Jewish Community Forum
- Gateshead Voluntary Organisations Council
- Gateshead Youth Council
- Newcastle University
- Northumbria University
The Chair of the Council of Governors is the Chair of the Board of Directors of Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust. The members of the Council of Governors have completed the required declaration forms and none of the Governors or parties related to them has undertaken any material transactions with Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust.
Council of Governors’ Annual Report 2024/25Got a question for your Governors?
If you have a question that you would like to ask your governors, please either contact:
