Our Services

Building Better Governance

Good governance is a distinct and potent mix of vision, strategy, leadership, risk management, assurance, and transparency. It is much more than meetings and diagrams.

Examples of governance consultancy that we provide are:

Review and creation of governance architectures, terms of reference, and decision and assurance protocols
Reviews of risk management processes, co-production of Board Assurance Frameworks, and refresh of risk appetite and risk policy
Co-ordination and delivery of investigations into institutional failings
Revision and creation of corporate instruments, e.g., Constitution and Standing Orders, Standing Financial Instructions, Scheme of Delegation, Policies
Day to day governance delivery, e.g., interim Company Secretary support
“Governance 101” training, and in-depth subject specific training
Development of cycles of business and cycles of meetings

We undertook a comprehensive review of risk management processes in a major London teaching hospitals trust, generating an extensive assessment and recommendations for their Risk Governance Committee.

We have supported a large mental health trust to deliver changes to its corporate governance arrangements in response to an external review. We were their governance partner as they improved their report writing and cover sheets, ensured greater cross-fertilisation between Committees, developed a board development programme, refreshed Committee terms of reference, and updated Standing Orders and Standing Financial Instructions.

We provided interim Company Secretary cover for a foundation trust, collating and quality assuring Committee and Board papers, minuting those meetings, and providing Committee Assurance Reports on behalf of the Committee Chairs.

We co-ordinated a series of investigations in a foundation trust, liaising with NHSEI and the Company Secretariat. We then worked with the trust to revise its Constitution and Codes of Conduct in response to lessons learned and gaps identified.

We worked with a large teaching hospital trust to develop a Board Assurance Framework in response to their new Strategy. The BAF is now in operation and has gone through three cycles of quarterly assurance and reporting through Committees to the Board.

We chaired the Annual General Meeting of a regional housing association.

Governance

Company Secretary, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

ANHH Consulting has proven to be an invaluable resource to our Trust.
The depth of knowledge provided, the vast resources available, and the experience 0f the Team have provided us with a more informed and solid understanding
of the ever-changing healthcare governance environment. They have helped our
thinking, provided us with alternative perspectives, and actively coached/mentored/
advised us to generate and co-create solutions.

Leadership

Inspiring Leadership

The most effective leaders see the bigger picture and behave in ways that drive improvement in culture and performance while remaining true to organisational values. We partner individuals and Boards to be the best versions of themselves.

Examples of services we provide to improve your leadership are:

Facilitation of the forming, storming, and norming of new leadership groups
Blending of executive and non-executive teams to enhance a Unitary Board as a supportive, effective group
Well-led self-assessment, diagnosis and preparation to achieve improved ratings
Meeting observations to drive more effective debate and decisions
Focus on improved and inclusive culture through revised leadership and managerial styles
Skills matrix, gap analysis, and skills improvement plan
Group development and training, e.g., Board, Council of Governors, Executive Teams
Media training
Support to new NEDs
1:1 coaching and mentoring

We devised and led a Board Development programme with a multi-site acute services provider in response to its new Strategy. We facilitated a shared understanding of the role of the Board in delivery of the Strategy, and the importance of clarity of risk appetite.

We facilitated board development under the theme of the well-led framework for a major Yorkshire teaching hospitals trust.

We brought together a new senior management team for a regional office, over a 9-month period during the pandemic.

We designed a 12-month pre and post-inspection development programme for a Midlands based teaching trust.

We galvanised and re-motivated a Board that had received a poor well-led assessment, inspiring them to focus on a new strategy and partnerships.

Chief Executive, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust

ANHH were both personable and knowledgeable while still offering reflection
to the individual. They developed clear insights into areas where we could strengthen as a Board and provided timely and clear reporting in response to agreed outcomes.

Establishing Systems

No organisation is an island, and the future is being shaped around multi-agency partnerships, across sectors, and within new systems. We are expert at coalescing disparate groups around shared ambitions and objectives.

Examples of system design and implementation that we provide are:

Modelling of Provider Collaborative governance arrangements
Production of Partnership Agreements, Memorandums of Understanding, Information Sharing Protocols, and Risk & Gainshare Agreements
Cross-sector and multi-sector strategic and business planning in co-production with citizens and service users
Bringing sectors together to understand shared ambitions and risks
Support to the commercial sector in bidding for work with the public sector
Facilitation of risk and wicked problems workshops to test escalation and assurance processes
Programme management and direction, overseeing activities within and between partners to hit a critical path

We led the development of governance arrangements for the West Midlands adult secure care and learning disabilities and autism secure care provider collaborative. We developed their governance architecture, produced terms of reference for the various governance forums, developed risk registers, created a new Board sub-committee, revised terms of reference for existing Committees, and offered independent assurance to the Board of Directors that the provider collaborative was ready to go live in October 2021. The governance arrangements have been praised by NHSEI as one of the top in the country.

We were Programme Director and governance lead for the design and establishment of a mental health provider collaborative involving the Integrated Care Board, two foundation trusts, two local authorities, the independent sector, and more than 100 voluntary sector bodies. This included gaining Governors’ support for a significant transaction in the lead provider. The collaborative went live in April 2023 as the first of its type in the country.

We led a comprehensive review of the estate of a major mental health and community services provider in the southwest. We considered their compliance, capture of property information, the suitability of their estates team, their strategic estates options to support the trust’s clinical services and partnership aspirations. As an overarching piece, we designed arrangements for the stewardship of that estate in terms of reporting, risk identification and management, safety management, and capital expenditure.

We advised a multi-national construction company on tenders for two major capital schemes in the East Midlands and the Black Country. We helped them to understand the issues behind the ITN questions, and co-produced answers to some of the questions. We joined the construction teams for their interviews to demonstrate the broader benefits that they offered.

Systems

Chief Executive, Birmingham Mind Chair of BSol VCFSE Mental Health Collaborative and Panel

I pay tribute to ANHH for all their support to us over the last year.

We would never have achieved what we have achieved without them.

They have worked really hard to ensure that the VCFSE is formally represented, and
actively supported the sector to organise itself, helping deliver Terms of Reference and providing some really helpful training. It is truly a sea-change in how decisions
and oversight of mental health services are made.

Third Sector

Fostering the Third Sector

Our society would not function without the third sector. We are proud to have our roots deeply embedded in charities and have a particular expertise in promoting their benefit and needs.

Examples of third sector changes that we can make are:

Governance reviews framed by the Charity Governance Code and OSCR
Rapid reviews in response to crisis and challenge
Merger governance advice and leadership
Production of new and refresh of existing governance instruments
Strategy development and policy alignment
Creation of strategic plans
Risk analysis
Co-production advice and support
Leadership and governance training
Trustee and Chair recruitment
Skills matrix, gap analysis, and skills improvement plan
Trustee induction
Trustee 360 appraisal
Interim leadership
Interim governance support
Social media and communications

We supported the establishment of a new collective of 100 mental health voluntary sector organisations, designing their governance arrangements, producing their Articles of Association, training them in governance, supporting elections to their governing body, and advocating for their enhanced role in the health and care system.

We have undertaken multiple governance reviews, often in response to immediate challenges and issues. We recommended and supported the embedding of enhanced leadership and management arrangements.

We advised two adult hospices on their merger, and supported recruitment to a new Chair.

We led the merger of a children’s hospice with a larger adult hospice. We worked with the Board of Trustees to manage the financial, human resources, and membership activities related to the legal transfer. We then led the process to discharge remaining liabilities and to strike off the company.

Chair, Richard Watts and the City of Rochester Almshouse Charities

The team carried out our first ever external governance review. They had a very professional approach and carried out detailed interviews of Trustees, staff, and advisors, along with reviewing administrative procedures and policies. We received a very comprehensive report and a clear presentation of the review team’s findings.