9 September 2021

I am Cllr Ketan Sheth from Brent and I am CNWL's Lead Governor and I am grateful for the support of all our Governors, and I want to thank each of them for their dedication, especially in these difficult times of Covid; we add our thoughts to those who have lost family and friends and a number of us attended the Trust memorial service.

I also want to thank Dot  - who chairs the Board and the Council of Governors  - for her stewardship, advice and the example she sets us all.

The Council of Governors is not involved in operational matters, but plays a key role in deciding the strategic direction and development of the Trust, bringing the views of the community to bear on CNWL thinking. We have endorsed the Annual Reports presented tonight.

The Council of Governors has - like everyone else - had to change the way that it works - mostly on Zoom and Teams, and, though it is not as good as seeing each other face to face, we have continued to hold the Directors to account and always have a good dialogue with the Executive and Non Executive Directors about the direction of CNWL, as well as fulfilling other functions like  appointing new Non Executive Directors  - and I'm very pleased the Council has this year appointed Rashda Rana, Meena Anand and Richard Cartwright. 

We know there are changes to come with the new Integrated Care Systems and firmly  believe CNWL has a great deal to offer in the development of services and make them better for patients and for carers and the Governors are ready to play their part.

We have discussed many services at our meetings and been able to remotely visit some teams too and look forward to being able to go in person.

We want to put on record our thanks to all the staff at CNWL - in all its divisions and services - for their hard work - we never forget that it is the staff who make the NHS what it is and that is true of CNWL.

Thank you.