We are committed to engaging with our patients, public and staff and using your views and ideas to help shape our services. A key way that we can do this is through our Foundation Trust membership.
We became an NHS Foundation Trust on 1st December 2008 which is when we became Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Prior to this we were called North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
NHS foundation trusts were created to devolve decision making from central government to local organisations and communities. As an NHS Foundation Trust we have a free membership scheme that you can join. You can have your say and get more involved in how your hospitals are run.
Why join as a member?
Foundation trusts are membership organisations and the membership helps us to engage with the local community. Membership is completely free of charge to anyone over the age of 12 who lives locally or who has been a patient with our hospital. You simply need to register with us.
We know your hospitals are important to you so we want to engage and work with you as we develop our services. Our members help us do this and let you have a say. We've already run surveys for the members, hold focus groups to test ideas and developments and have a programme of informative events in place for our members.
Members elect a Council of Governors - at least half of whom are representatives of the local population and patients (other governors represent our staff and local organisations who we work alongside). The Governors represent the Members by working with our management team and the trust board - effectively holding them to account on behalf of the public. Any Member over the age of 16 is eligible to stand for election as a Governor. Governors also represent the public on our committees and even carry out inspections on our wards. You can find out more about our Governors and their meetings here.
It is important that our membership is strong and influences how the hospitals are run. We consult with you on issues and gain your views. We also want you to have a better understanding of your NHS and the decisions we have to make. Members are sent a regular newsletter, invited to events and can take part in regular surveys, focus groups and opinion polls amongst other activities.
We think membership is a great way of involving local people in the hospitals and ensuring that we are accountable to the local community. It's up to you how involved you want to be and you can indicate your level of involvement on the membership form - some members just want our regular newsletters, others want to take part in surveys or even volunteer with us. We value any of your input.
Have an idea or suggestion about the hospitals?
If you've been a patient or visitor and have an idea that you think we should know about then please let us know.