The review
Our review identified that the design of the BAF was preventing the Board from focussing on the key strategic risks affecting the Trust, whereby they were focussing on too many risks whereby assurances could be sought from other areas.
The outcome
This resulted in failures in identifying measures that mitigated risks and controls that risks were are not operating or were ineffective in reducing the risk to an acceptable level. Thus the BAF being a misleading document which did not enable the Board to have assurance over the control framework. A redesign of the BAF and how it was used, enabled the Trust to focus on key strategic risks and draw upon other assurances, resulting in more accurate risk scoring and greater focus on key objectives during Board meetings. This was further developed resulting in a greater understanding of the Trust’s approach and risk appetite.