Our Trust Board has appointed the company, KPMG, as our external auditor for the next three financial years.

The company will be responsible for reviewing our accounts from April 2017 to March 2020, and the appointment includes an option to extend the contract for a further two years.

This follows changes to the local external audit arrangements which NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups must abide by. Under the Local Audit Accountability Act 2014, we must appoint our own external auditors.

The roles are responsibilities of the auditors are set out in the act.

We appointed the company following a procurement process in line with Department of Health guidance. Our Auditor Panel recommended the appointment after looking into quality of service, experience and cost of the contract offered by KPMG.