Governance

Structure, governance and management at St Christopher's

Governance of the organisation

The Board has ultimate responsibility for the proper and effective management of St Christopher’s Hospice. The Board is responsible for all major strategic decisions, monitoring the organisation’s performance, and to ensure that it complies with its Articles of Association and applicable laws and regulations.

The Board delegates day-to-day management and decision making to the Executive Team.

Neil Goulden is Chair of Trustees and Eleanor Brown is Vice Chair – you can find out more about our Trustee and Executive Team here.

Board subcommittee structure and approach

The Board subcommittee structure (below) is set up to provide assurance to the Board and opportunities for broad Trustee engagement. Trustees chair and sit on the five Board subcommittees (Governance, People & Workforce, Quality & Impact, Finance, Audit & Risk and Education, Research & End of Life Policy).

CQC Inspection Reports

The CQC last inspected St Christopher’s in December 2019 and rated us as ‘Outstanding’ overall. Download the full inspection report published in March 2020.

A CQC Inspector from the National Direct Monitoring Team had a telephone meeting with Jan Noble (Registered Manager) on 14 December 2022 and the team also reviewed information and data about our service. The CQC inspector concluded that no further regulatory activity was required at that time but advised that the position is kept under review and may be subject to change at any time.

Creating an inclusive work environment

Diversity and inclusion

St Christopher’s Hospice is committed to embedding good diversity and inclusion practice into all of its activities so that the organisation becomes a richer and more diverse place to work.

Our main responsibilities include:

Advising on best practice in equalities – in particular ensuring the organisation is meeting its obligations under the Equality Act 2010
Developing strategy, policy and actions in relation to equalities
Providing support and guidance on cases of bullying, harassment and discrimination
Communicating with staff about the organisation’s inclusion practices
Setting up positive action initiatives such as mentoring schemes
Obtaining advice and support from relevant external equal opportunity associations.

The organisation uses an Equality Impact Assessment to understand the effects of its policies and practices on staff with different protected characteristics, in order to identify any improvements or amendments that might from time to time be required.