Having worked on Q since its inception, I often have the privilege of getting to reflect on how far we’ve come. The milestones we celebrate most visibly are when we hit a new marker in the number of members (we’re nearly at 4,500 by the way) or when we launch a new offer. But I confess to also being genuinely excited about how our governance arrangements are developing – specifically the current evolution in our board structure.

I’m looking forward to the new voices and views we’ll bring together to help Q meet its goals.

Maybe it’s something about working in Q that means I can be inspired by governance! I think it’s because Q is all about bringing together diverse experiences and perspectives. So, we want the way Q is led to reflect that ethos. As we establish our evolved board, I’m looking forward to the new voices and views we’ll bring together to help Q meet its goals.

This blog shares a bit more about the opportunity for members to get involved, as we’re really keen to make sure we continue to have members at this level – shaping what we do overall. Members are at the heart of what we do; this includes holding us to account and advising on the strategic direction of the initiative.

How is Q governed? What’s new? 

As you’d expect from a major initiative that benefits from charitable and health service funding, we’ve always had governance structures and processes underpinning what we do in Q. We’re part of the Health Foundation, so benefit from their accountability and support processes. As a multi-partner initiative, we’ve also had close involvement of all our country partners.

In 2019, we got in principle backing for support and funding to Q through to 2030. That comes with some exciting ambitions for growing the number of members in the community, and doing even more to support participation, as well as things like expanding the Q Lab network and making more of the insight shared across the community.

We want to make sure that how we do the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff like governance is aligned with our ethos of collaborative learning and improvement.

It also came with expectations that we would develop the organisational and funding arrangements for Q, so that we create a model that’s sustainable beyond 2030. To help us get there, we’re revisiting our governance, with a newly evolved board that will support us, challenge us and offer us the broad perspectives we need.

It’s a really exciting time for Q, creating a springboard for the work we do together in the future. We want to make sure that how we do the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff like governance is aligned with the ethos of collaborative learning and improvement that we support in the community.

How can you apply to join the board? 

There’s an open recruitment process for up to seven places on the board. We’re using a recruitment agency, Society, to make sure that we cast the net wide and attract people with diverse backgrounds, skills and experience – including people with experience of being Q members, whether you’ve recently joined or been a member for years.

Members and others we recruit will join board members from the Health Foundation and our partner organisations, who will also show how they meet the same criteria set out in the recruitment information. We’re excited about what we can achieve together with a mixed board of members, partners and others.

Visit Society’s website to find out more about the process and the commitment and skills needed for the board. Or if it’s not for you, please do think about whether you know anyone who might be a good fit and pass this information on. The deadline for applications is midday, Friday 5 November.