Corporate governance and financial performance: the case of English NHS hospitals

Purpose Hospitals’ corporate governance (CG) mechanisms oversee critical operational issues and evaluate the outcomes. This paper investigates the impact of CG (i.e. board size, board independence, board expertise, board meetings, board gender diversity, CEO gender, and academic directors) on the financial performance of English National Health Service (NHS) hospitals and separately by hospital type (i.e. trusts and foundation trusts). Design/methodology/approach The sample includes 128 NHS hospitals. The data were collected through document analysis and archival work from annual hospital reports from 2014 to 2018. Findings The findings indicate that board expertise, board meetings, board diversity, CEO gender, and academic directors significantly and negatively affect NHS hospitals’ financial performance. For NHS trusts, the results reveal that board expertise, board diversity, and CEO gender have a significant negative effect, while for NHS foundation trusts, only CEO gender has a significant negative impact. Originality/value Overall, this study contributes to the literature on the healthcare system. It holds significant practical implications for hospital governance and has important implications for theories.