Foundation Trust membership
As a Foundation Trust, members are able to elect representatives to the Council of Governors, stand for election as a governor and apply for positions as non-executive directors of the Trust.
Through governors, members receive information about the Trust, and are consulted on plans regarding the future development of the Trust and its services.
Membership is open to anyone aged over 12 years, within public, service user, carer or staff categories. Staff who are permanently employed by the Trust or hold a fixed term contract of at least 12 months, are automatically registered as members unless they choose to opt out. During 2022/23 no members of staff opted out of Trust membership. Eligibility to become a member of the Trust is based on criteria as described below:
- Public member: based on local authority area in the given location.
- Service user or carer member: open to anyone who has been an inpatient or outpatient within the previous five years, or a carer of such a former service user.
- Staff member: currently employed by the Trust on a permanent or fixed term contract.
- Stakeholder member: represents the interests of a key partner.
The Trust strives to ensure that its membership reflects the full diversity of the local population, in terms of age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic background, religion and belief. As of 31 March 2023, there were 9,243 members of the Trust.
The Trust will continue with its approach to ensure it is truly representative of the community it serves. The membership catchment area is formed of constituencies representing the local population, service users, carers and staff. For details, refer to following table. Members in each constituency vote for governors to represent them.
The following table highlights the Trust’s membership figures for 31 March 2023:
| Constituency | Number of members |
|---|---|
| Public - Borough of Boston | 395 |
| Public - City of Lincoln | 1055 |
| Public - East Lindsey | 692 |
| Public - South Holland | 311 |
| Public - South Kesteven | 852 |
| Public - West Lindsey | 634 |
| Public - rest of England | 638 |
| Subtotal | 5517 |
| Constituency | Number of members |
|---|---|
| Service user | 869 |
| Subtotal | 869 |
| Constituency | Number of members |
|---|---|
| Carers | 438 |
| Young People Carers | 18 |
| Subtotal | 456 |
| Constituency | Number of members |
|---|---|
| Staff - Adult Inpatient Division | 604 |
| Staff - Adult Community Division | 290 |
| Staff - Older Adults Division | 541 |
| Staff - Specialist Division | 569 |
| Staff - Corporate Division | 566 |
| Subtotal | 2401 |
Membership development and engagement strategy
In 2022/23 work continued in line with the Governor and Membership Strategy and its supporting delivery plan the membership and Governor Startegy can be found on our website by using this link.
The strategy outlines the Trust’s objectives for governors and membership and the required approach to ensure the organisation continually strives to develop membership. It outlines plans for promoting membership and for the recruitment, retention and involvement of members. A detailed action plan to deliver the strategy has been developed and is monitored by the Council of Governors’ Representation Committee.
The Trust is committed to recruiting members from the diverse population across Lincolnshire. Membership is open to all those eligible, regardless of any protected characteristic specified by the Equality Act 2010.
The membership database is regularly reviewed to ensure that the membership is representative in line with Census data 2021. Specific groups that appear to be underrepresented are targeted in recruitment campaigns, in order to seek to increase membership representation in these areas.
Membership engagement
A dedicated Governor and Membership Officer supports with the wider development of membership and supports Governors to carry out their duties. Pre-induction, induction training and development sessions are offered to governors to enhance their effectiveness in working with members and the general public.
The Council of Governors’ Representation Committee logs, addresses and responds to ideas, innovations and issues raised by members and its work is publicly reported at the Council of Governors meetings and is published on the Trust website. The Council of Governors and Board of Directors have a public question time scheduled as part of their respective meetings where Trust members and members of the public can submit questions in advance. Minutes and recordings from both meetings are published on the Trust’s website. Through its governance structures the Trust will continue to be responsive to the needs of the membership and wider community.
Public events, which are attended in person or online by governors, provide information about local mental health, learning disability and autism services. They also create a forum for both members and the general public to speak with governors regarding Trust services and any feedback. .
To ensure regular communication with members, the Trust implements a number of feedback mechanisms, these include the Trust’s Better Together magazine, website, membership events, the annual public meeting and the use of social media. Staff members are kept up to date with the activities of the staff governors through updates on the Trust’s intranet.
Service user and carer involvement
Service user and carer involvement in the Trust has taken many forms, with the key intention of helping to shape and improve local services and the care environment.
Service users and carers attend and contribute to a wide range of activities including staff recruitment, meetings, committees and working groups, bringing their particular expertise to both team level decision making and also to an organisational wide level; some of these involvement activities are detailed as follows:
- Staff employment - service users and carers are regularly involved in the recruitment and selection processes for staff - from shortlisting applicants, interviewing potential candidates to assisting with the subsequent appointment of a new staff member.
- Interest groups - individuals (not necessarily Trust members), are canvassed for their opinions through focus groups, research studies, working parties and surveys.
- Governor election information sessions - information sessions held for prospective new governors.
- Member recruitment events - range of events held throughout the county to actively promote the Trust and mental health services with a view to recruiting new members.
- New governor induction sessions - designed to support newly appointed governors immediately following their election, to help familiarise them with the workings of the Trust.
- Annual public meeting and annual members meeting - a large scale, one day public event held every September that shares information about the Trust’s performance from the previous 12 months and its proposed activities for the immediate future. The Board of Directors and Council of Governors talk openly about the opportunities and challenges that will influence the organisation over the coming year, (as detailed in this annual report). This event also facilitates the formal presentation of the Annual Report and Accounts. In 2022/2023, this was held online.
- Quality inspections– Quality site inspections were re-introduced, with the intention of service users and carers objectively reviewing Trust services at base level.
Benefits of being a member of the Trust
The benefits to being a member of the Trust include:
- Receiving regular updates on enhancements to local mental health, learning disability and autism services.
- Receiving copies of the Better Together magazine, which contains news from Lincolnshire and further afield, with the magazine available in print or online.
- Being invited to attend Trust events, open days, drop-in sessions and informational events.
- Being able to provide feedback through a range of questionnaires, surveys and consultation events (both online and in person).
- Voting on the representatives to sit on the Council of Governors, or standing for election as a Trust governor.
- Having direct contact with governors, to ensure views are taken into account when decisions are made on the future direction of services.
Membership information can be downloaded from the Trust’s website or by contacting:
- Telephone: 01522 309176
- Email: lpft.governor-member@nhs.net
- Post: FREEPOST RUEL-EKKT-EBAS, Membership Office, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Trust Headquarters, St George’s, Long Leys Road, Lincoln, LN1 1FS.
