How we make decisions

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is a public body so we are accountable for conducting and managing our business within a set framework. Our main decision-making groups are dictated by national guidance.

Trust board
The board is the governing body of the Trust and is held to account for our performance in delivering healthcare and health improvement. The board aims to provide leadership, to look ahead and set strategic aims and to identify and maintain our values. The board is made up of non-executive directors and executive directors. This membership is in line with guidance published by the NHS Executive.
• More information about the members of the board
• Details of board meetings

Public and patient involvement (PPI)
Building a partnership between health providers, patients and the public is at the centre of modernising the NHS. The term 'patient and public involvement' is a way of achieving three main objectives:
• Strengthened accountability to local communities
• A health service that genuinely responds to service users and carers
• A sense of ownership and trust
The PPI systems the Trust currently has, or is developing, range from the involvement of service users in their own personal care and treatment to engaging local communities in monitoring and planning services.

The Trust directly supports some of these systems, while others are supported by partner organisations or independent bodies. 

The PPI contacts within the Trust are:
Charing Cross, Hammersmith and Queens Charlotte's & Chelsea hospitals
Karen Dobson
Address: Karen Dobson, PPI manager, Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8RF
Telephone: 020 3311 7597
Email: ppi@imperial.nhs.uk

St Mary’s and Western Eye hospitals
Esther Moloney
Address: Esther Moloney, PPI manager, St Mary’s Hospital, 41 Praed Street, London W2 1NY
Telephone: 020 3312 6513
Email: ppi@imperial.nhs.uk

Public consultations
A public consultation was carried out regarding the formation of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust as the UK's first academic health science centre (AHSC) in partnership with the faculty of medicine at Imperial College London.
• Read more about the AHSC consultation

Internal communications 
The Trust informs its staff about a wide variety of issues through a daily corporate e-newsletter, a quarterly newspaper, a staff intranet site and monthly team briefings.