1. Role of the Board
According to the NHS Leadership Academy the purpose of NHS Foundation Trust Boards
"is to govern effectively and in doing so, build public and stakeholder confidence that their health and healthcare is in safe hands".

2. Role of the Board
The Leadership Academy goes on to detail the role of NHS Boards and and to state that effective NHS Boards demonstrate leadership by undertaking three key roles.
Formulating Strategy
Ensuring Accountability (for delivery of the strategy) and
Shaping a healthy culture for the Board and the organisation.

3. Building Blocks
Ensuring Boards are informed about the external context within which they operate.
Ensuring that the Board is informed by and shapes the intelligence which provides and understanding of local people's needs, trend and comparative information on how the organisation is performing and has access to market and stakeholder analysis.

4. Building blocks
Ensuring that the Board gives priority to engagement with stakeholders and opinion formers within and beyond the organisation, with an emphasis on healthy dialogue and being accountable to patients, the public and staff governors and members as well as commissioners and regulators.
Ensuring accountability by holding the organisation to account for the delivery of the Boards strategy and by being accountable for ensuring that the organisation operates effectively and with openness, transparency and candour and by seeking assurances that systems of control are robust and reliable.

5. Dealing with a challenging view
Option 1: Persuasion and counter argument
Option 2: Further enquiry and bridging
1. Challenging or different view stated
1. Challenging or different view stated
2. Respond with counter argument or restatement of accepted thinking rationale
2. Inquire further into nature of the view:
What is the thinking behind that position?
What are the underlying concerns that lead you to think that this is an option?
What would be the advantages in your view of us taking this direction?
Help me understand how you would see this option as preferable to our current thinking?
3. Attempt to persuade individual to accepted way of thinking
3. Bridging
So if our current position also offered xxx you would be happier?
I agree with your underlying concern of y – our current thinking would accommodate that in the following way…..
I recognise that risk and consider that it is a lesser risk to the ones managed by our current thinking
4. Check that individual has now moved to accepted thinking
4. Establish revised position
What is your thinking now? What do we need to do to accommodate your thinking into our direction going forward?

6. Exercise
In pairs have one of you role play "persuading" your partner on a hypothetical difficult change – 5 minutes
Swap
In same pairs have one of you role play using bridging discussion on same issue - 5 minutes
Discuss how each option felt and the merits of each.