New role for George Eliot Hospital members

 

With the George Eliot’s Foundation Trust application ongoing, the Members Advocacy Panel is intended to be an interim measure, bringing the opinions of members to the attention of the Trust’s Board of Directors in a structured way, a role that will eventually be undertaken by a future Board of Governors.

 

The Trust currently has over 10,000 members and over 700 of these have expressed an interest in standing for the Board of Governors when the George Eliot becomes a Foundation Trust.

 

Everyone who has expressed an interest in becoming a governor has been contacted to invite them to sit on the panel; however, any current member of the hospital is also welcome to put themselves forward for selection.

 

While the group will not be statutory or have the binding powers of the eventual Board of Governors, it will give the Trust Board of Directors the opportunity to familiarise themselves with one of the major processes that will come into place when it becomes a Foundation Trust.

It will also give those members interested in sitting on a future Board of Governors the opportunity to understand how they can work with the Trust’s Board of Directors to positively influence decisions made at the hospital in a more informal setting.

 

The panel is being set up at the request of Trust Chairman Stuart Annan. Stuart said: “Right from the start of the Foundation Trust process we have been overwhelmed by the levels of support we have received from the local community and particularly by the number of people who have expressed an interest in becoming actively involved in the future of the hospital.

 

“Because the process of becoming a Foundation Trust has taken longer than anticipated we have had to look at ways in which we can harness this support in a positive and productive way.

 

“I believe that we are wasting the talents of over 10,000 members who are already committed to supporting this hospital and we can use their skills, contacts and insights to better inform the Board of the needs and expectations of the communities that we serve.

 

“While it won’t have the powers associated with a Board of Governors, the Members Advocacy Panel will have a unique opportunity to take the opinions and concerns of the hospital’s membership base directly to the Trust Board of Directors.”

 

For more information or to express an interest in sitting on the Members Advocacy Panel, please contact Membership Manager Doreen Sadler on 024 76 865 383 or at Doreen.sadler@geh.nhs.uk