Governance Review of the Defence Medical Services

In order to deliver against his aspiration for the DMS to become "outstanding", Director General (DG) DMS has directed the commissioning of a review to assess the governance of the DMS and benchmark its arrangements and processes against a recognised and relevant framework. To the extent that such a review identifies any deficiencies or inefficiencies in the existing governance arrangements or their alignment, or opportunities for them to be improved further, the review may inform targeted development work to secure and sustain the DMS'S future performance as part of continuous improvement and to further enhance its interactions with wider Defence.

The MoD requires a contractor to lead, co-ordinate and deliver the review, through providing an informed, objective and constructive perspective and specialist input where required. The review will assess the alignment of the governance of the DMS to the Well Led framework published by NHS Improvement, and identify developmental actions in response.

Because of the position of DMS within Defence, however, the review will need to consider adapting the Well Led framework to accommodate the requirements of Joint Service Publication (JSP) 525 "Corporate Governance" , JSP 950 Leaflet 5-1-4 "Governance and Assurance in the DMS" and the framework established by the new Defence Operating Model (DOM) . Modification may also be required to ensure that the review appropriately addresses the deployed operational context which is one of the DMS' primary Defence Tasks and which will not be encountered within the NHS.

The review will identify DMS's position in relation to Best Practice and make recommendations as to the actions necessary for the DMS to achieve an "outstanding" rating, both taking account of the context of the DMS within Defence rather than the NHS and noting where proposed solutions may require action outside of the JMG. Recommendations must include specific provision for mechanisms by which the DMS may, in future, self-assess the quality of its own leadership and governance. The Services shall be provided at Defence Medical Services (DMS), DMS Whittington, Lichfield WS14 9PY.