NHS Mansfield and Ashfield CCG

Governing Body

Terms of Reference

1. Purpose

The purpose of the CCG’s Governing Body is to lead the commissioning of health care services for residents of Mansfield and Ashfield.

The Governing Body is established in accordance with NHS Mansfield and Ashfield Clinical Commissioning Group’s Constitution. These terms of reference set out the working arrangements of the Governing Body.

2. Membership

As set out in the group’s Constitution the Mansfield and Ashfield NHS Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body will have the following voting members:

Elected

  • Clinical Chair
  • Four GPs
  • One lay member with a specific responsibility for Patient and Public Involvement (shared post with Newark and Sherwood CCG)

Appointed

  • The Chief (Accountable) Officer
  • The Chief Finance Officer
  • TheChief Nurse
  • The Turnaround Director
  • A Secondary Care Doctor (Shared post with Newark and Sherwood CCG)
  • Chair of Audit Committee
  • Two lay members (Shared posts with Newark and Sherwood CCG)

Governing Body Members are expected to attend all formal meetings. Over a twelve month rolling period if members have been unable to attend at least 80% of the meetings the chair shall instigate a review of their continuing membership.

Non-voting attendeeswill include the CCG Director of Contracting and Urgent Care; the Director of Primary Care, a senior manager from Nottinghamshire County Council;a public health consultant from Nottinghamshire County Council; and the Chair of the Primary Care Commissioning Committee.

Other officers and specialist advisers may be invited to attend when the Governing Body is discussing items that fall within their areas of responsibility. These attendees will not have voting rights.

3. Chair and Deputy

The CCG’s Clinical Chair will chair the meeting. The Audit and Governance Committee Chair / or nominated Governing Body GP will chair the meeting in the absence of the Clinical Chair.

In the event that both the Clinical Chair and nominated deputy are absent or conflicted, the Chief Officer will chair the meeting.

4. Quorum and Voting Arrangements

A quorum will be fivemembers with a clinical majority. The quorum should include all of the following:

•The Clinical Chair OR the Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee (or nominated Deputy Chair in the event that both the Clinical Chair and Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee are both absent or both conflicted)

•A lay member

•3Governing Body clinicians (one of which being a GP)

In the event of all of the Governing Body GPs being unable to vote because of a collective conflict of interest the quorum shall be five members but the requirement for a clinical majority will be overridden.

With the exception of a nominated Deputy Chair, nominated deputies will not count towards the quorum, nor will any member that has declared a conflict of interest in relation to any matter being discussed or voted on.

Any question where it is deemed necessary by the Chair to require a vote at a meeting shall be determined by a majority of the votes of members present and voting on the question. If necessary, the Chair will have the casting vote.

If the Chair is unable to participate in any discussion due to registering a conflict of interest then the nominated deputy will chair the meeting.

Any urgent matters requiring approval outside of the normal cycle of business will be subject to formal ratification at the subsequent meeting.

In the event that quoracy cannot be reached for approval of an item, members from Newark and Sherwood CCG can be co-opted to achieve quoracy subject to the agreement of the majority of the voting members present, with the item subject to formal ratification at the subsequent meeting.

5. Frequency of Meetings

Formal meetings will be held monthly in public, with a minimum of 12meetings per year. Meetings will be held in private session for confidential issues. It will be possible for the Chair to convene an additional, extra-ordinary meeting of the governing body, should this be deemed necessary by the Chair in agreement with the Chief Officer.

The CCG will meet jointly with NHS Newark and Sherwood CCG and routinely have a shared agenda.

A schedule of annual meetings shall be published on the group’s website no later than 1 January for the forthcoming year.

6. Duties

The remit of the NHS Mansfield and Ashfield Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body is to:

  • To ensure compliance with, and oversight of, the key statutory duties of the CCG as laid out in the CCG Constitution.
  • To lead the development, and oversee the delivery, of the strategic aims and objectives of the NHS Mansfield and Ashfield Clinical Commissioning Group.
  • To ensure there is a balance between the local and national priorities and to have oversight of investment and disinvestment decisions.
  • To ensure there is appropriate public involvement and engagement in commissioning decisions.
  • To ensure that views of professionals (who work across the wider health economy) are taken into account when making decisions on service issues.
  • To proactively review the financial position of NHS Mansfield and Ashfield Clinical Commissioning Group.
  • To approve business cases on behalf of the CCG that exceed the value of £500,000, with note that where decisions relate to capital expenditure on estates, this must be ratified by NHS England.
  • To approve the CCG’s opening budget and the annual accounts in line with the CCG’s Scheme of Reservation and Delegation.
  • To approve the CCG’s annual report and governance statement.
  • To act as a ratification body for decisions or recommendations made by CCG committees in line with the Scheme of Reservation and Delegation.
  • To proactively review the clinical quality performance of acute providers contracted by the NHS Mansfield and Ashfield Clinical Commissioning Group.
  • To oversee performance and contract management of all acute, community and mental health providers, including the delivery of improvements in service quality.
  • To oversee the performance of CCG subcommittees and to proactively identify and address any significant risks that may impact on the delivery of strategic objectives.
  • To have oversight of arrangements for clinically-led commissioning with relevant stakeholders, including the local authority responsible for social care and the Health & Wellbeing Board.
  • To oversee collaborative commissioning processes and to ensure that appropriate governance arrangements are in place.

7. Conduct of Business

The Governing Body will be expected to conduct itself as an exemplar organisation, working to the Nolan seven principles of public life, namely:

•Selflessness

•Integrity

•Objectivity

•Accountability

•Openness

•Honesty

•Leadership

Members of the Governing Body have a collective responsibility for the operation of the Governing Body. They will participate in discussion, review evidence and provide objective expert input to the best of their knowledge and ability, and endeavour to reach a collective view.

The Governing Body may delegate tasks to such individuals, sub-committees or individual members as it shall see fit, provided that any such delegations are consistent with the parties’ relevant governance arrangements, are recorded in a scheme of delegation, are governed by terms of reference as appropriate and reflect appropriate arrangements for the management of conflicts of interest.

Members of the Governing Body shall respect confidentiality requirements as set out in the CCG’s Standing Orders.

8. Administration of Meetings

Secretarial support to the Governing Body will be provided by the CCG Head of Corporate Governance who will be responsible for supporting the chair in the management of the committee’s business and for drawing the committee’s attention to best practice, national guidance and other relevant documents, as appropriate.

Agendas and supporting papers will be circulated no later than 5 working days in advance of meetings.

Any items placed on the agenda will be sent to the Head of Corporate Governance no later than 7 working days in advance of the meeting. Items that miss the deadline for inclusion on the agenda may be added on receipt of permission of the Chair.

Under exceptional circumstances items which miss the deadline for inclusion on the agenda may be added on receipt of permission from the Chair.

Minutes will be taken at all formal meetings, and presented according to the corporate style. The minutes will be ratified by agreement of the NHS Mansfield and Ashfield Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body at the following meeting.

9. Declaration of Interests

The NHS Mansfield and Ashfield Group has a Conflict of Interest Policy and have a register of member interests.

At the beginning of each formal meeting, members will be required to declare any personal interest if it relates specifically to a particular issue under consideration. Any such declaration shall be formally recorded in the minutes for the meeting in accordance with the provisions set out in the CCG policy.

Where a declaration of interest means that there is an actual or a suspected conflict of interest, the conflict must be identified by the Chair and Administrative Support at the agenda setting stage of meeting planning. This will enable the consideration of the provision of papers in preparation of the meeting to prevent those with direct conflicts from having access to information which they are not permitted to act in their capacity within the meeting to discuss, or decide.

All declared interests will be managed in line with the requirements of the CCGs’ Conflict of Interests Policy.

The CCGs will not award a contract for the provision of NHS healthcare services where conflicts, or potential conflicts, between interests involved in commissioning such services and the interests involved in providing them appear to affect the integrity of that award and the CCGs will keep a record of how it manages any such conflict in relation to NHS commissioning contracts it has entered into.

10. Reporting Responsibilities

The NHS Mansfield and Ashfield NHS Clinical Commissioning Group will bring to the attention of the NHS England any urgent risk and business management issues, including those raised by its sub-committees. Where necessary, these will be the subject of a separate report.

The NHS Mansfield and Ashfield Clinical Commissioning Group will act in accordance with the collaborative arrangements and shared requirements as defined in the Collaborative Memorandum of Understanding (separate MOUs exist for commissioning and governance) for that are in place for the CCGs across Nottinghamshire.

11. Review of Terms of Reference

These Terms of Reference will be reviewed annually or when there is a material change to the contents in order to ensure the group’s Governing Body responsibilities are fulfilled in accordance with national advice, guidance and best practice.

Date: November 2016

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