Membership Development Strategy

Transcription

1 Membership Development Strategy May 204

2 Contents Page Introduction 3. Membership Development. Our Aim 4.2. Ensuring Diversity Membership Community 5.4 Membership Recruitment and Involvement Principles Membership Growth 6.6 Sustaining Membership 7.7 Levels of Involvement Supporting Membership Development 9 2. Communication 2. Communication Objectives Target Audience Growing Membership using Communication Planned Communication Activity Evaluation 3 Membership Analysis and Reporting 3. Membership profile Analysis 3.2 Members Making a Difference 4. Monitoring Compliance and Effectiveness Implementation 2 Monitoring 2 5. Conclusion 2 2

3 Introduction Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust (WWL NHS FT) herein afterwards referred to as the Trust, believes that involving Foundation Trust (FT) members, patients and the public in decisions about services, is an essential step to meeting the needs of the communities it serves. This strategy aims to provide a comprehensive framework for development and engagement with the Foundation Trust membership and wider community. It acknowledges that the Council of Governors (COG) will prepare and from time to time review the Foundation Trust s Membership Strategy. The COG will develop this Strategy and monitor its effectiveness to be assured that it remains meaningful as the Foundation Trust membership develops and grows over time. Effective communication is an essential component of the Strategy and communication plans are outlined within this document. This strategy will be supported by an annual membership engagement plan detailing planned initiatives for membership recruitment and engagement. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), will be developed to ensure the objectives of the strategy are effectively monitored. 3

4 . Membership Development. Our Aim The FT is a public benefit corporation open to all people willing to accept the responsibilities of membership without discrimination. Through an established FT membership community, the Trust will work directly with people who have expressed an interest in the Trust. FT membership will support the process through which the Trust will engage with patients and the public and comply with its statutory duties in this regard. It will act as a vehicle to support the development and improvement of the standard of care and treatment we provide, through engagement with current and potential future service users. The NHS FT model is based upon a principle of openness, working in a way that is transparent to the members. Becoming a member of the FT will provide people with an avenue to contribute to the development of services through a form of social ownership. The governance structures within the Trust aim to promote comprehensive engagement with public and staff members, organisational stakeholders and the wider community. It is recognised that there will be wide variation in the level of participation of our members. It is important that this Strategy provides a range of pathways from which choices can be made..2. Ensuring Diversity It is important that FT membership is seen to be relevant to all sections of the population. Every effort will be made to be inclusive in the approach to involvement, by striving to ensure that the membership community reflects the social and cultural mix of the defined constituencies. Representative geographical membership will consist of the local authority electoral boundaries together with patients who live outside of the Borough but choose to access services from the Trust. Public constituencies ensure that membership is open to all residents of the local government electoral area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and also includes people from outside those areas. Public membership will be representative of the local population and the Trust s patient profile. The proportion of representation may change over time in line with the services we provide, and our public membership will aim to reflect this. Staff constituencies ensure that membership is open to all staff who have a permanent employment contract or who have worked for the Trust for at least 2 months. 4

5 The COG will reflect the identified constituencies and will be supported by the Trust to encourage a representative membership drawn from the population served by the Trust..3 Council of Governors The Council of Governors represent the local and extended community currently shown in table A. Table A Constituencies Public: Wigan Leigh Makerfield Rest of England & Wales Staff: Medical & Dental Nursing & Midwifery All Other Staff Partner Agencies: Wigan MBC Wigan Local Medical Committee WWL Staff Side Wigan Borough CCG Age Concern Wigan Borough UCLAN Five Boroughs Partnership FT Number of Governors Membership Recruitment and Involvement Principles A number of important principles underpin our membership recruitment activities: An opt in approach will be taken to public membership: the Trust wants members to choose to be involved and to have a choice in their level of involvement. The Trust considers it more important to have a fully engaged membership, rather than a large but potentially unengaged membership. To encourage Trust staff to become members by adopting an opt out arrangement To provide a simple, accessible and well publicised process for becoming a member. This includes promotion throughout patient and public involvement activity. To strive for a membership composition that reflects the diversity of the people whom the Trust serves and who work for the Trust. To maintain accurate and informative databases of members that meet regulatory requirements and provide a mechanism for supporting membership development. 5

6 The principles of involvement highlighted in the Patient & Public Engagement Strategy for the Trust, and the Monitor Guide for FT Governors your statutory duties will underpin the membership development..5 Membership Growth The Trust aims to target potential members in line with the Borough s population, staff and patient profile to ensure that a proper and representative membership is maintained. This will be monitored through the membership databases and by annual membership profiling. The Trust is aiming to steadily increase its public membership during the next three years of NHS FT status with the targets set as shown in table B below. However, having attained Foundation Trust status in 2008, it is felt that a qualitative approach to involvement should be a complimentary focus to that of a numerical increase. The slight reduction in staff members takes account of the CCGs plans to move some services from the acute hospital setting into the community. Table B Constituency Current Position 2 Year target 3 Year target 204/5 205/6 206/ Public Wigan Borough Public Out of Borough Staff Totals,300,400,950 The COG is responsible for ensuring appropriate growth and development of a representative membership and will be involved in advising the Trust on what it considers to be the most appropriate recruitment initiatives. Some examples of methods used to date or potentially planned initiatives for the future include: Direct mailing Face to face Joint initiatives with local voluntary and community sector Patient interest groups Website WWL FT internal promotions Direct marketing eg. posters, leaflet campaigns Member recruiting member promotions via member newsletters Local community events Schools and Colleges Enhanced use of information technology Use of social media The Trust is committed to supporting and sustaining an engaged membership. Members need to feel involved and able to contribute to the work of the Trust. It is for this reason that our membership growth plans are focused on the quality that our members can bring to the Trust rather than simply focussing on quantity of members. 6

7 .6 Sustaining Membership In order to sustain membership the Trust will implement a series of communication and involvement opportunities with members, typically this will include:, New member welcome letter Members newsletters Annual Public/Member Meetings Meetings of the COG held in public Member Consultations on key topics Membership Events Engagement with local authority Townships Engagement with local schools and colleges Engagement with partner agencies on joint ventures Feedback opportunities eg. , freephone, comment cards Open Day Events Online Facilities Any other methods developed by the COG Presentation and awareness events.7 Levels of Involvement The COG works within the Trust s governance structures to establish effective methods of involvement and engagement. This work takes account of the guidance cited in Real Involvement working with people to improve health services, guidance for NHS organisations on section 242 (B) of the NHS Act There will be a wide variation in terms of the level of involvement that members wish to have. We therefore provide a range of options to allow members to decide what is most appropriate to them as individuals. Members are able to change the level of their involvement at any time. Members can choose to simply receive information, or to engage with the Trust on a range of opportunities including membership as a lay reader or patient panel. They can become more extensively engaged with the Trust acting as a lay advisor on Trust committees or ultimately to choose to stand as a Governor. Whatever level of membership is chosen, membership is free to join. The opportunities to members are described in table C. Table C: Membership Choices Level : Information only and opportunity to attend events / vote in elections Level 2: Involvement in survey or lay or proof reader participation incl. opportunity to vote in elections & attend events Level 3: Involvement as a committee representative incl. opportunity to vote in elections & attend events Level 4: Any or all of the above and to stand for appointment as a Governor 7

8 Membership engagement can be carried out at an individual and/or collective level..8 Supporting Membership Development A qualitative approach to membership development and patient and public engagement is a key priority for the Trust which aims to further develop and embed robust involvement practices. The COG are the direct representatives of local interests and are responsible for representing the interests of members and partner organisations, utilising recruitment and involvement methods highlighted in this Strategy. The Trust Board Company Secretary and Engagement Team will support the COG to meet its responsibilities and will ensure that the Trust s patient and public engagement work links to this strategy. The COG, with the support of the Board of Directors and Membership Manager is committed to proactively recruit and involve members using the range of strategies outlined in this paper. 2. Communication Planned communication will support this Strategy in recruiting and engaging with members and the public. A range of communication methods will be utilised to recruit new members and develop and maintain existing membership. The identified different levels of membership will help inform the Trust s approach to communicating with members: this will allow the Trust to effectively engage in targeted communication that meets the needs and expectations of members. Communication will be vital in supporting this Strategy whatever the level of involvement. The Trust proposes to communicate formally with all members on at least two occasions per year in the form of a Membership Newsletter. It is important to recognise that a two way form of communication with all the members is established and maintained, so that they fully benefit from their membership, feel involved in the Trust and are able to add value to the services we provide. 2. Communication Objectives Our communication objectives are to: Raise awareness and promote the Trust amongst our membership Effectively engage with all membership groups that accurately reflect the social and cultural mix of our membership community Encourage the wider public and our staff to become members by demonstrating the benefits of becoming a member 8

9 Maintain appropriate lines of two way communication with public and staff members to ensure they feel part of the organisation and are able to add value to the Trust through their membership. Build on existing communication methods 2.2 Target Audience Our target audience includes: Public and staff members Patients, visitors and volunteer supporters Voluntary and community groups Partner agencies Patient interest groups General public 2.3 Growing Membership using Communication The Trust will continue to recruit members using a variety of communication methods based on the requirements of individual members to encourage them to feel part of the Trust and to support them to promote membership to a wider audience. Examples of communication methods include: Promotional materials in local GP, dental, pharmacy and Local Authority buildings Promotional materials across all Trust sites Attendance at community events WWL hosted events eg. Garden Party, fund raising events etc.. FT internet and intranet advertisement and online sign up form Press releases in local, regional and national media Direct mailings eg. Member and Staff Newsletters Staff induction events Welcome letters Utilisation of partner agencies communication networks IT Solutions and social media Use of local expertise or schools and colleges in the development of promotional materials 2.4 Planned Communication Activity All members will receive regular communication from the Trust. This could include the following Welcome letter Newsletter at least twice a year Health Information Events based on Member interest and education Annual members meeting Seeking views from the lay reader and patient panels Annual members survey to contribute to forward plans Buddying opportunity with existing Governors for potential future Governors 9

10 2.5 Evaluation Evaluation of activities aimed at communicating with members will be monitored via the COG Communication sub committee and Trust Marketing and Communications Steering Group. This will include:- Local and media coverage Regular analysis of membership figures and profiles at COG meetings Annual FT member survey,seeking views on communication and engagement methods 3. Membership Analysis and Reporting 3. Membership profile Analysis Analysis of the membership community is required to fully understand and evaluate the profile of the FT membership and to identify any under represented areas eg. by geography, age, gender or socio economic profile. This analysis will help to inform the FT s on-going programme of member recruitment. Analysis will be regularly reviewed in order to inform the future planning of recruitment activity. The Engagement Committee will receive a regular report on membership profiles/statistics. The Communication Sub Committee will regularly review the level of involvement of members, the communications they have received and any feedback to allow them to plan future improvements. 3.2 Members Making a Difference An area of great importance to the Trust is the evaluation of the impact of FT membership and patient and public engagement on the Trust s services and quality of patient experience. This programme of work will be led by the Engagement Committee, currently chaired by the Lead Governor. This will receive regular reports on membership, national surveys, action plans, partner agency activities and volunteer reports. The outcome of this regular evaluation will enable the COG to review and refine the Strategy, ensuring that it remains a live and relevant document that is meaningful and accessible to the membership. 4. Monitoring Compliance and Effectiveness The Board of Directors acknowledges that the Membership Development Strategy should be owned by the COG, who have taken responsibility for the initial preparation of this strategy, and who will as part of their responsibility continue to monitor and review its implementation. The COG are responsible for the ongoing development and effectiveness of the Membership Development Strategy. 0

11 The COG, via the COG Strategy Committee, will assure itself that the Strategy remains meaningful, develops and grows over time and contributes to the general well being of the Trust. 4. Implementation The COG Membership Development Group along with the Trust will develop a Membership Engagement plan, detailing key recruitment and engagement initiatives to ensure implementation of the strategy. 4.2 Monitoring The COG Membership Development Group will provide regular reporting of progress on recruitment and engagement activities to the COG. They will make regular recommendations to the full COG to support the Trust s responsibility to grow and develop a representative membership. The Trust Board Secretary regularly reports to the NED meeting on progress achieved against the annual recruitment plan. The COG will meet on a quarterly basis with the Trust Board to report progress against the membership development strategy. The Trust within its Annual Report, will report on the key engagement and recruitment activities that have taken place in year to support the appropriate growth and development of a representative membership. The Trust within its Annual Plan, will report on the membership status. 5. Conclusion This membership development strategy has been prepared in order to set out the commitment to building an effective FT membership with arrangements to support it. A representative membership base will be monitored and the Trust will continue to recruit and engage its members. Detailed membership recruitment, involvement initiatives and implementation will be included in the Membership Engagement Plan. The COG will prepare and biannually review the Foundation Trust s Membership Development Strategy to ensure the membership community develops and that engagement is embedded within the Trust.