Welcome to the website for our NHS Foundation Trust. My colleagues and I are very keen to enlist your support in helping to shape the development of healthcare services at the five hospitals within our Trust.
An NHS Foundation Trust has more financial and operational freedoms than conventional NHS Trusts. However, Foundation Trusts are still firmly part of NHS and subject to NHS standards, performance ratings and systems of inspection with their primary purpose being to provide NHS care to NHS patients according to NHS quality standards and principles i.e. free care based on need, not ability to pay.
Foundation Trusts were first introduced in April 2004 and are based upon the mutual organisation model in that those living in communities served by the Foundation Trust can become members. From these members, Governors are elected to represent members' interests in the running of the organisation. Members are therefore given a bigger say in the management and provision of services. By this method, Foundation Trusts provide greater accountability to patients, service users, local people and NHS staff with the overriding principle being that members have a sense of ownership over the services that a Foundation Trust provides. Foundation Trusts therefore have a duty to engage with their local communities and encourage local people to become members of their organisation.
We are firmly committed to our patients, staff and communities.Over 12,000 members of the public have already signed up to become members. To ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to contribute to developing our services, we aim to recruit many more public members over the next two years.
If you, your family, friends or colleagues are interested in membership, please contact the FT office on (0161) 276 8661 for an application form, or go to the NHS Foundation Trust website
Our Trust strives constantly to be the best at whatever it does - from delivering the highest standards of care to our patients to training our healthcare professionals for the future and pushing back the boundaries in biomedical research. With your help, we will ensure local people benefit from the best possible healthcare services, both now and in the future.
All our members are equal, but the Trust recognises that some members may wish to become more involved in the life of our Foundation Trust. One of the biggest ways that you can get involved is to put yourself forward to stand for elction to our Council of Governors.
If you are interested in standing for election as a Public or Staff Governor, please contact our FT Membership Office. They will be able to give you details of when the next Governor elections will be held, and the process for standing as a candidate (elections take place from June each year). You do need to be a member of the Foundation Trust before you can stand for election. Governors have to meet certain criteria.
The Trust is keen to represent all areas of the community on the Council of Governors, and welcomes interest from anyone within the various constituencies. You do not need specific qualifications for the role, other than an interest in healthcare and a commitment to representing your constituents to the best of your ability. We provide a comprehensive induction programme and ongoing training for our Council of Governors.
We held our Annual Members Meeting on Tuesday 27th September For further details, view the minutes. At this meeting, members approved proposed changes to our Constitution and at the request of Monitor (Independent Regulator of Foundation Trusts) these changes will be implemented over the course of two phases namely:
Monitor's approval to implement the Second Phase is awaited but it is anticipated to take affect around April 2012 to include: -
In conjunction with the Second Phase, a public membership recruitment campaign will also be taking place which will focus on the new Trafford constituency.
Following completion of the Second Phase, elections will be held (commencing June 2012) to fill the newly established Trafford Governor posts.
We truly appreciate your interest in our Foundation Trust and look forward to working with you in the future to develop our hospitals and provide world-class services for adults and children.
Peter W Mount CBE
Chairman
