Membership

Why do we need members? Vital to public and staff accountability as an FT They provide a representative pool of people from which to elect public and staff governors To help governors and the Trust to stay in touch with what’s happening ‘out there’ To influence the Trust to provide the best possible services for our patients

How did you get here? Elected governors were members before standing for election Staff were ‘opted in’ to become members Appointed governors were selected by their organisation, the organisation having been selected by the Trust Board Many different ways public members were recruited... ?

Overview of numbers SECAmb has c4700 public members (or 0.14% of our population) – target was 4500 last year We have 2900 staff members (or 95% of staff) Aim to increase our membership year on year by 10% ie to 5000 by April 2011 Membership numbers to be reviewed by the Membership Development Group of the Council

Quality not quantity The Trust aspires to an engaged membership. We believe in developing a smaller membership that we can engage with effectively rather than a huge membership that we can’t However it is vitally important to ensure our membership represents the population we serve.

Overview in pictures Our public members are happy to work with us:

Overview in pictures The vast majority of our staff are members:

Representation We have worked to achieve more diversity in our public membership than is measured by Monitor – e.g. we have monitored disability, sexuality, and gypsy and traveller ethnicities. The current public membership is broadly representative of our population, with three exceptions: Under-represented in Kent and Surrey Under-representation of Bangladeshi, Chinese and mixed white and black Caribbean ethnicities (very small numbers make a big difference here) Under-representation of social class C2

Overview in pictures Our public members are of diverse ethnicities: 86% white British 5% unspecified

Overview in pictures Our public members are from all age groups:

Overview in pictures Our public members by constituency representation:

Retaining and engaging with members We know that members who feel involved are more likely to remain members. Retention and engagement will be achieved by understanding members’ wishes and providing a variety of options for them: Events Information Surveys Focus groups

SECAmb as an FT FTs offer a real opportunity for creating a responsive, accountable NHS. SECAmb can be at the forefront of making this a reality, but that will depend on how well we work together, and how effectively we engage our membership. Wider public Membership Board of Directors Council of Governors