Chairs have high moral values but struggle with disruptive directors, claims landmark study

Nearly half of trust chairs fail to “effectively deal with non-performing board members” according to a major study of the role of NHS non-executive directors seen by HSJ.

The Henley Business School conducted in-depth research over a two-year period for its report 'The Independent Director in Society: Our Current Crisis of Governance & What to Do About It' which is published later this month. The research included a survey of NHS non-executive directors, which reveals that they have a broadly positive view about their contribution but also reveals significant areas of concern.

Only 55% of respondents agreed with the statement that NHS trust chairs “effectively deal with/remove non-performing and/or disruptive board members”. Just 47% said chairs had “positive relations with the media.”

The survey was undertaken before the onset of the pandemic, but nearly a third of the respondents disagreed with the statement that NHS chairs were “effective in a crisis”. However, almost every survey respondent claimed trust chairs had “high moral values” which were “aligned with those of the organisation.”

All but 2% of respondents backed the idea that non-executive directors “have a sense of duty to see things are done both ethically and morally”, while 94% claimed they were “truly independent”. However, a fifth claimed it was impossible for non-executive directors to be effective “given the mandate of the NHS”.

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Source: HSJ, 1 October 2020