In a packed room at St Mary’s Hospital, over 70 Islanders were urged to play a role in shaping their local health services by Danny Fisher, Chairman of the Isle of Wight NHS Trust.
He told the assembled crowd at the Medicine for Members event: “This is your NHS so get involved – we’re handing the NHS over to you! The more we can get the community involved, the better.”
Held on Thursday 28th November, this was the first event for Members of the Trust. In line with Government policy, the Isle of Wight NHS Trust is committed to moving to Foundation Trust status over the next two years and must have a strong and active Membership. This will give Islanders more of an influence in determining the health policy on the Island and keeping services innovative, high quality and responsive to the community’s needs.
There are currently 3,606 members – and the Trust is well on target to meet their goal of signing up 4,000 members by April 2014. Anyone living or working on the Island, aged 11 or over, can sign up. You don’t have to be a patient; the Trust is keen that everyone including carers of patients sign up. As well as influencing health policy, perks will include discounts at High Street retailers.
Mark Price, Foundation Trust Programme Director, explained:
“As an FT Trust we will be answerable to patients, carers and local people who can become members and governors. We’ve got plans to create a newsletter, dedicated webpage, open days, health talks, health fairs, invitations to events and lots more… so tell us what you want and we’ll show you how to get involved.”
Alan Sheward, Executive Director of Nursing, told the crowd that they would be looking for members to become ‘quality champions’ to provide feedback on services and conduct announced – and unannounced – visits to the wards.
Also at the event, members were given a rundown of the Island’s health services and had the opportunity to quiz the top executives. The Isle of Wight NHS Trust is the only one of its kind in England, combining ambulance, hospital, community and mental health services for 140,000 Islanders and visitors.
Chief Executive Karen Baker told the audience:
“Our goal is to deliver quality care for everyone, every time – by doing things better and driving waste out of the system.” She rebutted claims that there were ‘too may Chiefs and not enough Indians’, saying: “When we’re looking at saving money, the first thing we do is look at how many Chiefs there are and if they’re working efficiently.”
Chris Smith, Head of the Ambulance Service, confirmed that the Island based 111 service will be continuing on the Island, run from the Integrated Care Hub at St Mary’s in Newport. He also told the audience that the Ambulance service makes 1,400 journeys every month and that they meet or exceed all their Government targets.
Members in the audience included hospital staff, volunteers and service users, and ranged from school children to pensioners.
John Bowker from Seaview, explained that he wanted to become a member because:
“Health authorities throughout the land have been receiving such bad publicity but I’ve always found the service to be top class and I’d like to make a difference by spreading the good news that the NHS does.”
Leanne Gander, 23, from Ryde, added:
“I’ve joined so that I can get my points over for people, like myself, with learning disabilities. I want to make a difference for myself and my friends.”
The ticketed event was heavily oversubscribed and further events will be held in early 2014.
For more information on membership, please visit www.iow.nhs.uk.
