NHS Charity Trustees act jointly, working as a team, to ensure funds given for charitable purposes relating to the NHS are properly used in the way intended by the donors. Trustees are accountable under charity law to the Charity Commission for all their actions as Charity Trustees.
NHS Charity Trustees act to:
- administer in an efficient way the funds held on trust;
- work in a collaborative way with hospitals and associated organisations to ensure that funds are used effectively within the terms of their governing instruments;
- prepare accounts to be submitted to the Charity Commission;
- ensure that key issues are discussed by the NHS Charity Trustees in a timely manner and with appropriate information to support decisions;
- ensure that income and property of the charities are protected and applied for the purposes set out in the governing document and for no other purpose;
- develop and agree investment, disbursement and financial strategies which reflect the needs of the hospital, associated health services and research priorities;
- develop an open process for application of funds and to ensure that all disbursements are appropriately monitored, evaluated and reviewed;
- comply with the governance guidelines issued by the Charity Commission and seek the advice of the Charity Commission whenever there is doubt about the use of donated funds;
- play a full part in representing the NHS Charity Trustees’ activities in an open and positive way to the community they serve and develop a performance culture to enable trustees’ decisions to be externally reviewed and evaluated;
- ensure the effective induction and training of NHS Charity Trustees and their ongoing development;
- ensure that the NHS Charity Trustees take due responsibility for the effective management and development of all their staff;
- ensure organisational values are determined, setting out the purpose, objectives and style for the NHS Charity Trustees.