On 1st April 2004 Stockport NHS Trust became one of ten Trusts to be granted NHS Foundation Trust status . One of the key changes that NHS Foundation status brings was the closer involvement of our patients, our staff and the public, in influencing future developments.
Everyone over the age of 16 who lives in our catchment area has the chance to become a
member of the Trust. Membership is free and members are eligible to stand for election as a
governor on the new Board of Governors. The Board of Governors represents the views of the Members and enables you to have a say in what happens at your hospital.
Over the past three years the Trust has set up a number of boards and committees that enable this new, democratic structure to function and to ensure that the views of elected and appointed
governors are heard when important decisions are being considered. In addition to this, the Trust has reviewed the way it works and the way that the services it provides impact upon the community.
An initiative led by the Sustainable Development Commission has highlighted the positive impact that NHS organisations can have on the regional economy and the quality of the environment in which we all live and work. For example, in the North
West alone the NHS spends approximately £2billion a year on goods and services and employs over 100,000 people. This makes the NHS a major force within the regional economy.
The NHS can therefore use its considerable ‘business’ influence to help support
plans for the regeneration of the region whilst also delivering additional
health benefits by looking at how it provides health care through such things as
improving local sourcing, waste minimization, reducing energy consumption and
work with the wider community.
Click here for a guide on how to do business with Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust has embraced this agenda and in April 2006 a number of its
governors and executive Managers worked together to complete the Sustainable Development Commission’s self-assessment toolkit. This toolkit is designed to promote what the Commission calls ‘Good Corporate Citizenship’, or how NHS organisations can tackle health inequalities through their day-to-day corporate activities not just through the provision of health care services.
The toolkit focuses on six key areas:
Transport
Procurement
Facilities management
Employment and skills
Community engagement
New buildings.
Further information includes results of this self-assessment, our action plan and the study on our new Cardiology and Surgical
Unit (CSU).
The self-assessment toolkit has also been used as the starting point of an ambitious Corporate Citizenship Action Plan, developed by the Trust, which has won the support of the North
West Development Agency (NWDA), a government body charged with the economic development of the North
West.
The NWDA has provided additional funding for the Trust to explore new and innovative ways of addressing important environmental and community issues through its core activities in such a way
so that they can be replicated across the wider NHS. This will ensure that Stockport becomes a ‘beacon’ of good practice within the sector and that the communities it serves receive the best possible care delivered in the most responsible and sustainable way.