People living in Gateshead and Sunderland are being encouraged to have their say in the running of their local health services – by becoming a member of South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust.

The Foundation Trust is responsible for hospital-based services in South Tyneside. With effect from 1st July 2011, it also took over responsibility for community health services across the whole of Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland. These include district nursing, health visiting, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, podiatry, palliative care and walk-in minor injury units.

Peter Davidson, Chairman of the Trust, said: “Because we have only recently extended our membership to residents of Gateshead and Sunderland, we need to recruit members from these areas to join our existing 10,000 public and staff members.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for people living in Gateshead and Sunderland to join us and have a say in how we provide services to them. Being a member is easy and free and we would like as many people as possible to take an active interest in what we do. We are looking forward to making the most of the opportunities that we now have as a provider of hospital and community services to make a real difference to the way high quality healthcare is delivered locally.

“Our members elect our Governors who, in turn, appoint the Chairman and Non Executive Directors of the Trust so this really is a way of influencing the way in which we are run. By becoming members, people will have greater access to information about what we do and our future plans and will have real power in influencing the way we operate and our decision-making.”

Trust Chief Executive Lorraine Lambert added: “By becoming members, local people can play a real part in what we do, whether it is simply by showing an interest and receiving information or by taking a more active role and electing governing or joining us in planning future services. By getting more local public and staff involved, we can use their knowledge and experience to help us better understand their needs and design the best quality services to meet them."

Foundation Trusts are able to recruit both public and staff members. Membership of South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust is free and is open to residents of Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland who are over the age of 16.
Members are able to:

• Elect members to the Board of Governors
• Stand for election as a Governor
• Take an interest in how services are developed
• Be consulted about proposed service changes

They receive regular updates about the work of the Trust, including a members’ newsletter. They are invited to regular events, meetings and presentations on health issues and have the opportunity to meet the Council of Governors. Members are also offered discount at South Tyneside District Hospital’s restaurant and are entitled to sign up to ‘NHS discounts’, a scheme offering on-line discounts at many high street retailers.

As an additional incentive to join, the Trust has announced a prize draw for all public members, which will be held at the Annual Members Meeting on 5th December 2011. Prizes will include shopping vouchers and meals for two at Café Bar One in Jesmond and the new Café Bar One in Harton, South Shields.

For those interested in becoming a Governor, elections will be held on 2nd December 2011 and nominations have to be in by 24th October 2011.
For an application form or to find out more about becoming a member of South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, ring the membership line on 0191 202 4121 (24-hour answerphone). Alternatively, for more information go to http://www.stft.nhs.uk/for-members">www.stft.nhs.uk/for-members| 

Forms should be returned to: Membership Office, South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, FREEPOST, NAT 13663, South Shields, NE34 0AF.
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Notes to editors

• From 1 July 2011, the responsibility for providing community health services in Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland transferred from NHS South of Tyne and Wear (which covers Gateshead Primary Care Trust, South Tyneside Primary Care Trust and Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust) to South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust.
• The transfer was linked to Transforming Community Services (TCS), a change programme for the delivery of primary health care services to help meet the aspirations of the NHS Next Stage Review and new requirements in commissioning health care designed to promote high quality standards of care.

Issued on behalf of South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust by Kay Jordan
For press enquiries on this release, contact 0191 283 1438 or email kay.jordan@sotw.nhs.uk|