Recommendation F77: Enhancement of role of governors
From Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry, published 6 February 2013.
Recommendation
Monitor and the NHS Commissioning Board should review the resources and facilities made available for the training and development of governors to enhance their independence and ability to expose and challenge deficiencies in the quality of the foundation trust's services.
In brief (written by this site)
In September 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England stated that the recommendation had been implemented, reporting that NHS Providers leads the national GovernWell training programme and that an updated governance code issued in April 2023 requires foundation trust governors to receive appropriate induction and ongoing skill refreshes (DHSC and NHS England, Feb 2026). In an overview published in February 2026, the Thirlwall Inquiry legal team noted the acceptance of the recommendation and the code requirements, without marking the measure as fully implemented (The Thirlwall Inquiry legal team, Feb 2026).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
Accepted.
Working in partnership with Monitor and the Foundation Trust Network, the NHS Leadership Academy has commissioned the GovernWell programme, a new national training programme for Foundation Trust governors. The GovernWell programme is designed to help equip governors and non-executives with the skills they need to perform effectively, including improving their ability to challenge quality problems.
Monitor has surveyed Foundation Trust governors to review the current levels of support available and shares good practice with Foundation Trust Chairs, chief Executives and non- executive Directors on working effectively with their governors. Monitor also speaks regularly to Trust staff and councils of governors on the role of governors and what the expectations should be of it.
Monitor will be reviewing the uptake and feedback on the GovernWell programme on an ongoing basis. Monitor will also be supporting events hosted by the Foundation Trust Network for NHS Trust and Foundation Trust Chairs on working effectively with governors.
Monitor will update the Code of Governance to reflect the statutory duty of Foundation Trust boards to provide appropriate training for Foundation Trust governors. Foundation Trust boards will also be asked to self-certify on this as part of the Annual Plan Review.
How this response relates to the recommendation
Site note: This is volume two of "Hard Truths: The Journey to Putting Patients First" (Cm 8777-II), the government's response to the Inquiry's 290 recommendations, published by the Department of Health on GOV.UK on 19 November 2013 and dated to that day here. The PDF the row links to is the accessible edition, whose title page reads "January 2014". The Department of Health has been the Department of Health and Social Care since January 2018. The volume says it includes accounts from each of the national organisations the recommendations name, but it does not mark which passage each organisation wrote, so every row is filed under the Department that published it.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
Government responded via "Hard Truths: The Journey to Putting Patients First" (2014), a single document covering all 290 recommendations with a blanket acceptance. Individual recommendation responses were not broken out.
Delivery
DHSC and NHS England say completed (27 February 2026)
Please see our response to recommendation 47 for NHS England guidance and available support in relation to Foundation Trust governors.
GovernWell is the national training programme for FT governors. This is led by NHS Providers.
NHS England published an updated Code of governance for NHS provider trusts in April 2023, which replaced the Code produced by Monitor. The current Code of Governance requires governors to receive appropriate induction and to regularly update and refresh their skills and knowledge.
Governors are covered by the national Freedom to Speak Up policy.
Site note: DHSC and NHS England's own account of progress, supplied to the Thirlwall Inquiry in September 2024 and printed in the Inquiry legal team's Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version dated April 2025, published 27 February 2026). It is not a finding of the Inquiry. Their reviewed extent of implementation reads “Implemented – Closed”. Table row: section 18.2 No. 77, PDF page 462-463.
Department of Health and Social Care says in progress (11 February 2015)
Monitor sits on the GovernWell Advisory Group, together with representatives from the former Foundation Trust Governors Association, the Department of Health, the NHS Leadership Academy and some chairs and trust secretaries from NHS Foundation Trusts. This group meets approximately quarterly to review the uptake and marketing of the programme and to discuss how best to refresh its content in the light of evolving governor needs.
Monitor published a revised Code of Governance for Foundation Trusts in July 2014 and this references Your statutory duties: a guide for NHS Foundation Trust Governors as setting out the detailed governance requirements relating to governors. The detailed guide sets out the trust’s duty to take steps to ensure that governors are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to discharge their duties appropriately.
Site note: This is the supporting annex published on 11 February 2015 with "Culture change in the NHS: applying the lessons of the Francis Inquiries" (Cm 9009), attached to the GOV.UK page as "Culture change in the NHS supporting annex". The annex has no title page; that title is GOV.UK's and the PDF's own. Its table has four columns (No., Recommendation, Hard Truths Government response, Progress update), and the row carries the Progress update cell. No column says which organisation wrote an update, so the row is filed under the Department of Health (now the Department of Health and Social Care), which published it.
Site note: The Inquiry addressed this recommendation to NHS England, not to the Department of Health. The annex gives this update in the Department's publication and does not say who wrote it, so the row is the Department's report of the progress made on it.
What other bodies have found
In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.
Thirlwall Inquiry legal team (27 February 2026)
This recommendation was accepted by the Government.
In the January 2014 Hard Truths report, the Government said that the NHS Leadership Academy had commissioned a programme known as GovernWell, to provide training for Foundation Trust governors. The Government also referred to Monitor surveying Foundation Trust governors to review the current levels of support available.
In the February 2015 Culture Change report, the Government said that Monitor had published a revised Code of Governance which set out detailed governance requirements relating to governors, including the trust’s duty to take steps to ensure governors were equipped with the skills and knowledge they needed to discharge their duties appropriately. Ther current Code of Governance requires governors of Foundation Trusts to receive appropriate induction on joining the council of governors and to regularly update and refresh their skills and knowledge.
Site note: The Thirlwall Inquiry legal team's own notes on implementation, from its Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version dated April 2025, published 27 February 2026). The review does not colour its Extent of Implementation cell for this recommendation green; it leaves the cell uncoloured where a recommendation was rejected, where evidence of implementation was insufficient, or where steps had been taken but implementation was not yet complete. Table row: section 18.2 No. 77, PDF page 462-463.
Earlier findings (1)
Thirlwall Inquiry legal team (15 May 2024)
This recommendation was accepted by the Government.
In the January 2014 Hard Truths report, the Government said that the NHS Leadership Academy had commissioned a programme known as GovernWell, to provide training for Foundation Trust governors. The Government also referred to Monitor surveying Foundation Trust governors to review the current levels of support available.
In the February 2015 Culture Change report, the Government said that Monitor had published a revised Code of Governance which set out detailed governance requirements relating to governors, including the trust’s duty to take steps to ensure governors were equipped with the skills and knowledge they needed to discharge their duties appropriately. The current Code of Governance requires governors of Foundation Trusts to receive appropriate induction on joining the council of governors and to regularly update and refresh their skills and knowledge.
Site note: The Thirlwall Inquiry legal team's own notes on implementation, from its Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version of 15 May 2024). The review does not colour its Extent of Implementation cell for this recommendation green; it leaves the cell uncoloured where a recommendation was rejected, where evidence of implementation was insufficient, or where steps had been taken but implementation was not yet complete. Table row: section 16.2 No. 77, PDF page 427-428.
Source
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Department of Health and Social Care
Response, delivery statement - DHSC and NHS England
Delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding