Organisational Governance
Ardgowan Hospice is a registered charity that provides palliative care to patients and their families in the Inverclyde. The hospice/charity is governed by a Board of Trustees responsible for the organisation's overall strategic direction. The trustees are volunteers who give their time and expertise to the hospice.
The Board of Trustees has three sub-committees:
The Finance & Resources sub-committee oversees the hospice's finances and ensures that resources are used effectively. The Clinical Governance & Performance sub-committee ensures that the hospice provides high-quality care to patients. The People, Community, and Engagement sub-committee oversees issues relating to staff and volunteers, engages with the local community, and promotes the hospice's work.
The day-to-day leadership of the charity is delegated to the Chief Executive, who works closely with the Chair of the Board and is responsible for ensuring that the agreed strategy is implemented.
OSCR, the Scottish Charity Regulator
OSCR is the independent regulator and registrar for charities in Scotland. Its mission is to regulate in a way that builds trust and confidence in Scottish charities, holds charities accountable, and strengthens their ability to contribute positively to society.
As part of our registration, we submit an annual return to ensure our activities align with our charitable objectives. We also submit details of our Trustees and our annual accounts.
We are charity register number, SCO011541, and you can see our registration here https://www.oscr.org.uk/about-charities/search-the-register/charity-details?number=SC011541
Companies House
We are not only a charity but also a Company Limited by Guarantee. This means there are no shareholders, so no one ‘owns’ the charity. Still, it does mean that the Trustees have limited liability (if everything went wrong, they wouldn’t be fully financially liable). We have to abide by Company Law and send them an annual return, which includes our accounts. Our company number is SCO75515, and you can find our registration here https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC075515
You can see our latest annual report, including the accounts, below
[annual accounts]
Healthcare Improvement Scotland
Ardgowan Hospice is regulated by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), which focuses on the safe delivery of effective care. They do this primarily through annual returns and regulatory visits to all healthcare providers. You can read our latest HIS report below.
[HIS Reports]
Duty of Candour
One of the annual reports we are required to publicise is our Duty of Candour report. The organisational Duty of Candour procedure is a legal duty that sets out how organisations should inform those affected when an unintended or unexpected incident appears to have caused harm or death. We must apologise and meaningfully involve them in a review of what happened. When the review is complete, the organisation should agree on any actions required to improve the quality of care, informed by the principles of learning and continuous improvement. Once a year, we publish a summary of any Duty of Candour incidents from the past year.
[Duty of Candour Reports]