Membership Development Strategy April 2012 - 2015 Making a difference together UCLH Foundation Trust has 1893 Public and 8241 Patient members April 2012 Content 1 Introduction 2 2 Background 2 3 Strategic objectives 2 4 Delivering the Strategy 3 5 Evaluating the Strategy 5 6 Comments and Questions 5 7 Appendix 1 – Membership Development Strategy 2009 6 This document should be read in conjunction with the Trust’s Annual Report which provides the following information: Membership report Definition of the membership constituencies Annual membership analysis Annual membership strategy – key deliverables for the year Names of the members of the Governing Body can be found at www.uclh.nhs.uk/members Membership Development Strategy 2012-2015 Page 1 1. Introduction University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust) which is situated in the heart of London, is one of the most complex NHS trusts in England, serving a large and diverse population. It became a Foundation Trust in 2004. It provides academically led acute and specialist services, both locally and to patients from throughout the United Kingdom. It balances the provision of highly rated, specialist services with providing acute services to the local populations of Camden, Islington, Barnet, Enfield, Haringey and Westminster, and other areas of London. As a Foundation Trust it recognises that the Governing Body directly represents the patients, staff and local communities it serves and that building and encouraging membership involvement provides a real opportunity for people to influence the work of the Trust and wider healthcare landscape. This membership development strategy 2012 sets out a series of objectives for the Trust to continue to maintain, grow and engage its membership, including the actions that it will take to meet these objectives. It also describes how the Trust will evaluate the delivery of the strategy. It should be noted that whilst this strategy is aimed and patients and public, the action plan will include staff engagement and involvement. The strategy will be delivered within the wider framework of Trust strategies which address the issues of equality and diversity, public and patient involvement, user engagement, and communications. Appendix 1 summarises what progress was made against the objectives set out in the Trust’s second membership strategy published in 2009. 2. Background A membership development strategy steering group, comprising a small number of governors and the membership development manager, was established to consider how; Communication with members can be improved The benefits of UCLH membership can be communicated to the public and patients more widely including informing people about the role of governors and the Governing Body To increase a representative membership, particularly with younger people To increase engagement The Governing Body can contribute to developing the membership and engagement strategy Best to develop the role of the member and encourage involvement The group agreed that not all members would want to be actively involved and that the Trust would need to keep all members up-to-date with what was happening at UCLH and show how being involved could make a difference. It also agreed that representing the interests of members and stakeholders and engaging with members was a key responsibility of Governors. 3. Strategic objectives Membership Development Strategy 2012-2015 Page 2 This strategy sets out objectives that will be achieved to develop an engaged membership. There are three strands to the strategy these are; Build and maintain membership numbers to meet /exceed annual plan targets ensuring the membership is representative of the population the Trust serves, Communicate effectively with members, Engage with members and encourage involvement. The previous strategy evolved as the membership developed and the Governing Body will review the ongoing delivery of these objectives at least annually. 4. Delivering the Strategy The Governing Body with the Director of Corporate Services will have responsibility for ensuring the objectives and actions of this strategy are carried out. The Membership Development Manager will lead implementation and will ensure that specific Governor led projects, which focus on issues of recruitment or membership engagement, are incorporated in the action plan. The Governing Body may establish a group which, if required, will oversee implementation of the Strategy Objective 1 Build and maintain membership numbers to meet / exceed annual plan targets ensuring the membership is representative of the population the Trust serves The Trust’s aim remains to steadily recruit and increase representative membership. Key objectives include: i. ii iii. iv. v. To meet the annual targets as set out in the Trust’s Annual Plan each year. To maintain an accurate membership database which meets regulatory requirements and can aid membership development To encourage membership across the public and patient constituencies To take steps to ensure the membership reflects the diversity of the population the Trust serves To develop a simple and accessible process for becoming a member. Actions to achieve this include: Targeted and regular recruitment drives in the Trust’s Hospitals and at the annual open event Use of membership recruitment material e.g. letter from the Chairman should be sent to all new patients across our hospital sites Review recruitment material at least bi-annually to ensure it remains relevant and design site specific posters and banners for new sites, for example the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre and RNTNEH Membership Development Strategy 2012-2015 Page 3 Continue to use membership champions and governors to recruit members at key hospital locations and consider membership champions to assist in recruiting at hospital events Identify initiatives to raise the profile of membership in the local community e.g. advertising in local borough publications or attending local community events Develop strategies to identify and address under-representation, working with equality and diversity organisations. Continue visits to community groups to attract new members (this is also an opportunity for engagement) Develop strategies to encourage youth members to join the membership; Increase membership in the public constituency to ensure more even representation across London; Make the members/governors webpage more visual; Organise a series of visits to GP surgeries to recruit new members (also an opportunity for engagement) Objective 2 Communicate effectively with members The Trust is committed to maintaining a two-way dialogue with its membership. Through this it will encourage members to help influence developments within the Trust. Key objectives include: To promote the work of the Trust and its Governors To identify opportunities for two-way communication between members and Governors To ensure communications encourage the engagement with members Actions to achieve this include: Promote the work of the Trust and its Governors on the Trust’s website, through UCLH News and the Annual Review Identify opportunities for members to meet Governors e.g. at Trust events Provide all new members with relevant information about the Trust, the benefits of membership and the role of members Provide opportunities for members to give their views on a range of issues e.g. membership issues, UCLH News and patient care Make UCLH news and other membership publicity material available in other languages and formats as required through the Trust’s membership engagement work The Trust will consider the needs of its diverse membership when assessing its methods of communication and aim to provide material in appropriate and accessible formats. Objective 3 Engage with members and encourage involvement Membership Development Strategy 2012-2015 Page 4 The Trust’s aim is to ensure that the membership has an opportunity to get involved with the Trust and through this engagement help shape the services it provides. Key objectives include: To ensure the views of members are understood To identify opportunities for members and Governors to get involved in the Trust To encourage more members to stand for election to the Governing Body. Actions to achieve this include: 5. Increase opportunities for members to engage in Trust work e.g. ward observation work, recruit more membership champions, patient environment action teams (PEAT) inspections Link with the Trust’s existing strategies, for example patient and public involvement (PPI) and “making a difference together” campaign. Identify initiatives where members can be used as a source of feedback on patient and quality issues Continue to encourage a high number of members to stand for election in future years. Link with Local Councils to encourage stronger engagement. Invite members to engage in patient experience programmes in the Trust. Develop the ‘membership governor champion’ role to extend this to include governor champions for patient and public recruitment and staff engagement. Evaluating the strategy The overriding objective will be to ensure the strategy is delivered. The Governing Body will monitor delivery of the objectives set out in the strategy through an action plan which will set out what steps will be taken to meet these objectives. In monitoring the effectiveness of the strategy, the Governing Body and the Director of Corporate Services will ensure that it remains meaningful and relevant. A progress report was submitted to the Governing Body by the Membership Development Manager in November 2011 and will continue to be presented at least 12 monthly intervals thereafter. 6. Comments and Questions The first point for contact with the Trust regarding membership information is the Membership Development Manager on 020 3447 9290 and via email foundation.trust@uclh.nhs.uk Ros Waring Membership development manager Following consultation with the Membership Development Strategy Working Group: Christine Chapman – Non-London based Patient Governor Fiona McKenzie – London-based Patient Governor John Green – London-based patient Governor Membership Development Strategy 2012-2015 Page 5 Dee Carter – London-based patient Governor Bill McAlister – London based patient Governor Tom Hughes – Staff Governor Membership Development Strategy 2012-2015 Page 6 Appendix 1 Membership Development Strategy 2009 1. Introduction This paper summarises the achievement of the objectives set out in the membership development strategy which were agreed by the Governing Body in 2009. Regular reports were submitted to the Governing Body meeting on progress against delivery, providing assurance to the Trust that the specific objectives were being delivered; achievement of the overall goals were reported annually in the Trust’s annual plan. 2. Build and maintain membership numbers to meet/exceed annual plan targets ensuring the membership is representative of the population the Trust serves One of the key objectives in delivery of this was: To take steps to ensure the membership reflects the diversity of the population it serves Considerable progress has been made in this area. The public membership is now represented by more than 15% of members from the Asian community. This has largely been due to the successful engagement programmes organised through the membership office. Strategies to improve this across more ethnicities will be included in the 2012 plan. Examples of engagement undertaken to improve representation are listed below. i. Visits to Bengali and Chinese communities followed by a series of health talks in the communities Membership stand at local events, for example Spencer House Open Day. Spencer House is part of Circle 33 which provides Supported Housing. Members from local communities signing up more members ii. ii. As a result of the above work UCLH News is now regularly translated into Bengali, Chinese and Turkish. 2. Communicate effective with members One of the key objectives in delivery of this was: To ensure communications encourage the engagement of members Considerable progress has been made in this area. Regular communication with members has resulted in a more engaged membership. This has been achieved by: i; Effective and timely communications to members on email informing them of the forthcoming MembersMeet. An increased number of Membership Development Strategy 2012-2015 Page 7 members now to use the Foundation Trust inbox as a method of communication, not only for MembersMeets but also to advise of the change of address/circumstances, information, standing for governor. Members generally respond to the Membership office communications, even if it’s to send their apologies to a MembersMeet. There has been an increased number of new applications coming through the inbox, this could be as a result of the QR code (quick response code which when scanned with smart phones take people directly to the membership website page) that has been added to the membership posters. UCLH news continues to be an effective and well received communication to the members. ii. iii. 3. Engage with members and encourage involvement One of the key objectives in delivery of this was: To identify opportunities for members and governors to get involved in the Trust Considerable progress has been made in this area. The Trust has developed ways for members and governors to work together on a number of projects; these include: i. ii iii PEAT inspections Ward observation work as part of the quality improvement framework Membership recruitment champions Conclusion This review shows that the strategy agreed by the Governing Body has broadly been delivered. In areas where progress has been more difficult to accomplish the Membership Development Strategy Steering Group developed alternative strategies some of which will be built on in the 2012 membership strategy. RW/April 2012 Membership Development Strategy 2012-2015 Page 8