The Board

Board meetings are held in public on a quarterly basis within the boundaries of the six major purchasing Health Authorities in the Mersey/Cheshire zone where the majority of our patients live. Meetings for the rest of the 2000/2001 financial year will be held on Wednesday, October 25, 2000 and Wednesday, January 26, 2001 at North Cheshire and Wirral Health Authorities respectively.

The Annual General Meeting for 1999/2000 will be held at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncologyon Wednesday, September 27, 2000 at 6.00pm. For further information please telephone Hazel Lyle on 0151 482 7680.

Controls Assurance
Controls Assurance is a process designed to enable NHS organisations to do their best to protect patients, staff, the public and other stakeholders against all kinds of risks. It is an holistic concept, based on best practice which conforms to the Combined Code of Practice on Corporate Governance and the Turnbull guidance on Internal Control.

Fundamental to the process is the involvement of people and functions within the organisation through the application of self-assessment techniques to ensure objectives are met and risks are properly controlled. Risk management and internal control are firmly linked with the ability of an organisation to fulfil clear objectives.

Controls Assurance exists to inform NHS Boards about significant risks within the organisation for which they are responsible and is intended to assist NHS staff to identify risks, help them determine unacceptable levels of risk and then to decide on where best to direct limited resources to eliminate or reduce those risks.

The Board acknowledges and accepts its responsibility for maintaining a sound system of internal control including risk management. As part of the NHS Controls Assurance Project, I, as Chief Executive, confirm that for the year ending March 31, 2000, and in accordance with NHS Executive circular HSC 1999/123 and supporting guidance, the Board has reviewed and endorsed an action plan resulting from an organisation-wide self-assessment against relevant risk management and organisational control standards produced by the NHS Executive. The Board will oversee the implementation of the action plan.