Home / Inquiries / Mid Staffs Inquiry / F76
Index live
← F75 F77 →
F76 Accepted

Enhancement of role of governors

Mid Staffs Inquiry · Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry · Issued 6 February 2013 · Addressed to: NHS Trusts

Source — verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

Arrangements must be made to ensure that governors are accountable not just to the immediate membership but to the public at large – it is important that regular and constructive contact between governors and the public is maintained.

Mid Staffs Inquiry, Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry · 6 Feb 2013 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:

- The National Service Act 2006, as amended, establishes a statutory duty for councils of governors to represent the interests of trust members and the public (National Service Act 2006, November 2006).
- NHS England stated in April 2025 that its 2022 addendum to the statutory duties guide explains how governors should interact with the public to communicate performance and planning information (DHSC and NHS England implementation update to the Thirlwall Inquiry, April 2025).
- Monitor published guidance in 2013 regarding the duty of governors to be accountable to the public (Your statutory duties: A reference guide for NHS foundation trust governors, Monitor, 2013).
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Gemini (Google) on 30 Jun 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The evidence above reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.

Response — verbatim from government

●Department of Health and Social Care

The government published "Hard Truths: the Journey to Putting Patients First" (Cm 8777) on 19 November 2013, responding to all 290 recommendations of the Francis Report. This followed an initial response "Patients First and Foremost" in March 2013. Key reforms included a new Chief Inspector of Hospitals, strengthened Care Quality Commission inspection regime, a statutory duty of candour, and the fit and proper person test for NHS directors. Volume 2 (Cm 8754) contains the government's detailed responses to each of the 290 recommendations. See: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7cd486ed915d63cc65d167/34658_Cm_8777_Vol_1_accessible.pdf

Department of Health and Social Care · 19 Nov 2013 Written response →

Evidence trail — what's actually happened since

  • 1 Apr 2025 DHSC and NHS England implementation update provided to the Thirlwall Inquiry (April 2025). This is the government's own account of progress, submitted to the inquiry. Reviewed extent of implementation: Implemented – Ongoing. Monitor has merged with NHS England. In 2013 Monitor published guidance for Foundation Trust governors. In 2022 NHS England published an addendum governors' to statutory duties to reflect the different landscape of the NHS. Under the National Service Act 2006, councils of governors have a duty to represent the interests of the members of the NHS foundation trust and the public. The addendum explains how the council of governors should therefore interact regularly with the members of the trust and the public to ensure it understands their views, and to clearly communicate information on trust and system performance and planning in return. Source →
  • 6 Feb 2023 · Academic Review - Ten Years After Francis Research published 2023 marking ten years since the Francis Report found mixed results. Structural and legislative changes largely delivered (duty of candour, FPPR, CQC overhaul, revalidation, Freedom to Speak Up Guardians). However, cultural change not fully embedded; understaffing, fear of speaking up, and poor complaint handling persist in parts of the NHS. View source → Reasonable Progress
  • 11 Feb 2015 · UK Government - Culture Change in the NHS Government published "Culture Change in the NHS" (Cm 9009) reporting progress on all 290 recommendations. Key achievements: 19 hospitals placed in special measures; those trusts recruited 109 additional doctors and 1,805 additional nurses; 129 board-level changes made; excess avoidable deaths fell by 450 in less than a year. View source → Good Progress
  • 19 Nov 2013 · UK Government - Hard Truths Vol 1 & 2 Government published "Hard Truths: The Journey to Putting Patients First" (Cm 8777) in two volumes. Vol 1 set out new actions; Vol 2 provided detailed response to each of the 290 recommendations. Approximately 204 of 290 recommendations were fully accepted. View source → Good Progress

Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.

How this page is built

Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.

This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.