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The Trust Board


The West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (Establishment) order 2006 (SI 2006, No: 1626) that came in to force on 1st July 2006 formally established the the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust; with a Trust Board consisting of six non exectutive directors (including the Chair) and five executive directors.

The Chair of the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust Board is Sir Graham Meldrum, who was appointed as Chair of the Trust Board on 1st February 2007.  The Chief Executive Officer is Mr Anthony Marsh.

The Chair and the Non Executive Directors are currently appointed by the independent Appointments Commission. This body is responsible, on behalf of the Secretary of State, for making appointments to NHS and Department of Health bodies. Non-Executive Directors may serve for a maximum of 10 years in the same NHS post.

The Chief Executive is appointed by a committee of the Chair, Non Executive Directors representatives of the Strategic Health Authority and an external independent assessor approved by the Board. Executive Directors are appointed by a committee consisting of Chair, The Chief Executive and Non Executive Directors, again with an external independent assessor.

The Board are collectively and corporately accountable for organisational performance of the Trust, in particular the strategic direction of the Trust, the quality and safety of patient care and achieving its financial duties set by the Department of Health and the Strategic Health Authority. The Chief Executive and Executive Directors are full time employees of the Trust and are responsible for the day to day operational performance and management of the Trust. Whilst the Non Executive Directors are part time and bring to the Trust their experience having worked in various industries. The West Midlands Ambulance Service Trust Board currently have Non Executive Directors drawn from backgrounds in law, finance, marketing, business and local and central government.

The Board usually meets bi-monthly and the public are encouraged and welcome to attend meetings.  There is also an opportunity to ask questions on matters relating to the agenda of the meeting, by either submitting these in advance of the meeting to the Trust Board Secretary or asking questions at the Board meeting. The dates of Trust Board meetings are set out on this website, and Trust Board meeting agenda and papers are available approximately one week prior to the meeting of the Board.

Every September our Annual General Meeting is held to report how we have performed during the year and also to receive the Trust's Annual Report. This document is published annually and sets out the performance of the Trust and the annual remuneration of its Directors.

The Trust is an open and transparent body and welcomes your comments on its service or indeed anything contained on this website. We hope that you will find the information helpful.  Should you wish to forward your comments, positive or otherwise, these can be recorded as part of our compliments and complaints procedures.  Further details can be found within our 'Contact Us - PALS' pages, which can be found from the links on the right hand side menu of this page or by clicking here.  If you require any further information on the work of the Trust Board feel free to contact the Trust Board Secretary, Phil Higgins (Telephone + 44 (0)1384 215555 or email: phil.higgins@wmas.nhs.uk)

To find out more about the The Trust Board, please follow the links on the left hand menu.