The Board of Directors of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is assured that there have been no significant lapses in meeting the Core Standards between 1st April 2009 and 31st October 2009 and declare the Trust to have fully met all Core Standards. Assurance is based upon,
and developed within, a system of governance throughout the Trust. This process is mediated through formal clinical governance, risk management and audit processes that are led by senior staff, including Executive and Non-Executive Directors.
In terms of this declaration, the system of evidence collection and assurance to the Board of Directors is based upon a structure that requires all aspects of the Standards for Better Health to be reported in detail to the Trusts Risk Management Committee (RMC - which is a formal subcommittee of the Board) and/or the Sub-Committees of the Board of Directors and RMC throughout the year The aspects of organisational behaviour that are represented by Core Standards, and the drive towards improvement, are embedded within Trust strategic planning and performance management processes. This declaration represents a formal statement that is underpinned by a well-established Board assurance framework. This underpinning system has resulted in Board engagement throughout the year. In addition, further assurance is provided through the building of extensive evidence portfolios, which are available for scrutiny.
The Trusts internal auditors (North West Internal Audit Services - NWIAS) have provided the Trust Board with a significant assurance opinion that systems of control designed to oversee the declaration process are in place. In addition to this, assurances have been derived from North West Audit
Services and other third parties as part of the Trusts assurance plan (a rolling programme of assurance relating to each of the Core Standards). In preparing for the Core Standards declaration, the Trust has taken into account the requirement to ensure compliance for the period April 2009 to October 2009 and then between November 2009 and March 2010. The Trust will continue to collate third party evidence and assurances following the formal declaration and will complete a verification exercise to confirm that standards compliance were maintained.
The final declaration was approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 25 November 2009.
