Membership of the NHS Foundation Trust

Membership of the NHS Foundation Trust?

A NHS Foundation Trust is a new kind of NHS organisation that provides care services for local people. It is different because it involves local people more in developing services for the future. NHS Foundation Trusts have members that are local people who, through a Council of Governors, influence the development of the organisation.

 

As a NHS Foundation Trust our services are:

• Under greater local control, influenced by Governors who are local people
• Have more financial freedoms - to use our own resources to support patient care
• Deliver greater service user, staff and public involvement in how we identify our future priorities

We believe we already provide some of the best acute health services in the country. We believe that by becoming a NHS Foundation Trust we are able to make our services even better, benefiting the lives of the people who need our care.

We want local people to support us by becoming a member of our NHS Foundation Trust and have a direct say in how we develop our services.

Membership offers a new opportunity to local people and staff who are interested in contributing to the development of the Trust’s services. We have two types of member – public (including patients) and staff.

The role of a member includes:

• Being able to vote and stand in elections for the Council of Governors.
• Receiving the Trust's bi-monthly newsletter called The Pulse 
• Being consulted on plans for significant future developments.
• Attending the Annual General Meeting.
• Having the option to receive Trust documents such as the Annual Report.
• Having the opportunity to be more involved in services that interest them.
• Public members will also be eligible to be appointed as Non-Executive Directors.

It should be noted that members do not receive any financial benefits and do not receive preferential care.  More details about membership are included in the Foundation Trust Membership Pack. 

Public Members

Public membership is on an opt-in basis and open to people who live:

a) Within our catchment area of Norfolk and Waveney, which is defined by the residential location of our patient population.

b) There is a lower age limit of 16 years and no upper age limit for members with voting rights. Non-voting affiliate members can be aged 12–15 years or be people who live outside our catchment.

A person may not become a member of the Trust if, within the last five years, they have been involved in a serious incident of violence at any of the Trust’s hospitals or against any of our employees or volunteers.

More information about the membership rules is contained in the Terms of Authorisation.  To see a copy of the full document click here or to see Annex 8 of the Constitution which relates to membership click here.    

Staff members

Staff membership is on an opt-out basis and is open to people employed by the trust for more than 12 months  or on a fixed term contract of at least 12 months. The same applies for academic staff. 

Hospital staff who work for partner organisations such as Serco Health and Norse will also be eligible to become members on the same eligibility basis as trust staff.

We are also keen that trust volunteers also have the opportunity to become members of the staff constituency provided they have been with the trust for at least 12 months.