Information for staff members

Become More Involved – Stand for Election as a Governor

All our members are equal, but the Trust recognises that some members may wish to become more involved in the life of our NHS Foundation Trust than others. One of the biggest ways that you can get involved is to put yourself forward to stand for election to our Council of Governors.  You do not need specific qualifications for the Governor role, other than a commitment to representing constituents (members and the public) to the best of your ability.  An induction programme and on-going training is provided to Governors upon being successfully elected.

Why are Governor Elections held?

The Trust holds Governor Elections each year to fill any vacant seats on our Council of Governors and/or to open up seats for Governor positions whose term of office is coming to an end.  Our elections are run by an independent, external organisation with members (public and staff) voting for the candidate(s) that they wish to be elected to our Council of Governors using the ‘Single Transferrable Voting’ (STV) system.

Over the years, many of our public and staff members have been interested in standing for election as a Governor with some of their key motivations being:

• Having a passionate commitment to the NHS and to the Trust’s hospitals and a desire to make a difference alongside giving something positive back to the NHS.
• To make a positive contribution to ensure patients and carers get the highest quality of care at the Trust and, on their behalf, seeking performance assurances from the Trust’s Board of Directors.
• To use their personal experience as a patient/carer to help improve standards of care quality and safety, and the care environment.
• To help the Trust to consider patient/staff views when responding to any challenges it faces e.g. finance, restructuring, increasing demand etc.
• To be a voice/advocate for what matters the most to patients and their families, and to the wider community.
• To be a voice/advocate for staff and share their perspective with the Board of Directors.
• To give a voice to particular communities/groups e.g. minority groups, people with learning disabilities etc.
• To support the Trust in putting patients at its core and foster a culture of valuing and engaging staff.

If you would like to find out more about the Governor role or election process, please contact Donna Beddows, Foundation Trust Membership Manager, via e-mail donna.beddows@mft.nhs.uk

Changes to your Staff Membership Details or Opting-Out of Membership

We automatically enroll our staff as members upon joining the Trust as we are confident that you will want to play an active role in developing better quality services for both patients and staff.  Staff can however opt out upon request to the Foundation Trust Membership Office (details below).

The staff information that is received/collected is treated with the strictest of confidence, in keeping with Data Protection rules, not being released to third parties and is only processed and used to contact you about the Trust’s Membership and other related issues.  A copy of MFT’s privacy notice can be found on the Trust’s website https://mft.nhs.uk/privacy-policy/

Please be aware that staff membership information is stored separately to the Trust’s Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and if any of your personal details change, please contact the Foundation Trust Membership Office, as well as notifying your Line Manager to update ESR.

Members Taking Action on the Environment

Our Trust has a ‘Green Plan’ to ensure we play our part in to meet the NHS commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040. To support this, we would like to reduce the amount of paper we use by sending information to our members by email. If you have a valid e-mail address, and are happy to receive information this way, please support us by adding an email address to your membership record/details. You can do this by:

• Visiting  https://secure.membra.co.uk/updateemail/mft 
• Entering your Member ID* and Home post-code
• Inputting your valid email address – your membership record will be automatically updated.

* If you do not know your member ID or you experience any problems registering your e-mail, please contact the Membership Office via e-mail ft.enquiries@mft.nhs.uk

Our new ‘Member Portal’ – enables you to directly change, update or cancel your Membership

You can now manage all your membership data through our ‘Member Portal’.  You can access this (register) by visiting:  https://secure.membra.co.uk/MemberPortal/MFT and inputting the email address you have added to your membership details or have previously provided as part of your application process.  You will then be asked to input your first name and set a password.  To complete the registration process, you will be sent an email with a link to confirm your ‘Member Portal’ account.

The ‘Member Portal’ makes it quick and easy for you to view, add or update general information, your communication preferences, and your ‘involvement/engagement interests’.  This helps us to make sure that the information we provide to you is tailored to your interests, and your desired level of involvement.

Any changes you make will automatically update your membership record.  You can also cancel your membership should you wish to.

If you are experiencing problems registering to the ‘Member Portal’, want to update your e-mail address or personal/involvement details, or cancel your membership without using the ‘Member Portal’, or if you have any other queries, please contact the FT Membership Office.

Contact our FT Membership Office

Post:
Freepost Plus RRBR-AXBU-XTZT
MFT NHS Trust
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9WL

Phone:
0161 276 8661 (office hours 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday; answering machine outside these hours)

E-mail:
ft.enquiries@mft.nhs.uk

Family and Friends – How to Join Public Membership of our NHS Foundation Trust

We are committed to establishing a truly representative membership and welcome Members and Governors from all backgrounds, religions, beliefs, race, colour, gender, sex, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, age, social or economic status or national origin.  If you have a family member or friend who you think would be interested in becoming a public member of our Trust, application is easy, completely free and open to anyone aged 11 years or over who live in England and Wales with our ‘Membership Application Form’ being available via:

An online form , by clicking the ‘Become a Member of our Trust – Membership Form’ button on our website , or by scanning the QR code below.      
Printable copy of the form is available here, or contact the Foundation Trust Membership Office via e-mail ft.enquiries@mft.nhs.uk or telephone 0161 276 8661.

Further information:

All qualifying members of staff are automatically invited to become Staff Members as we are confident that our staff will want to play an active role in developing quality services for both patients and staff.

The Staff Member Constituency is subdivided into the following staff classes:

• Medical & Dental
• Nursing & Midwifery
• Other Clinical
• Non-Clinical & Support.

Benefits of being a Staff Member

As a Staff member, you decide exactly how much you want to be involved.  For example, you may simply wish to vote for the representative that you want to be elected as a Staff Governor alongside receiving updates via MFT’s Membership newsletter.  Or you may wish to play a more active role, including:

• Giving opinions and being kept informed of plans for future developments
• Participating in surveys/questionnaires
• Being involved and consulted on issues such as changes and improvements to services
• Acting as an ambassador for your profession, area of expertise or interest group
• Attending member events/open days
• Being involved in health promotions/campaigns
• Fundraising
• Recruiting new members
• Standing for election as a Staff Governor

Standing for Election as a Governor of our NHS Foundation Trust

As outlined above, one of the key ways that Staff Members can become more involved in the work of our Trust is through our Council of Governors with eligible Staff Members being able to put themselves forward as a Staff Governor candidate and/or vote for the candidate(s) that they feel best represents their views, during the election process (usually starts Summer/Autumn each year) with Staff Governors being directly elected from and by Staff Members.

Our Trust has 32 elected and nominated (appointed) Governors who together make up our Council of Governors. The majority of our Governors (24 out of 32) are directly elected from and by our members (public and staff) with Staff Members electing 7 Staff Governors.

Governors are responsible for representing the interests and views of both our public and staff members alongside the general public, seeking performance assurance from our Board of Directors, and helping us to shape the Trust’s future priorities and plans:

• On behalf of members, the Council of Governors sit around table with the Board of Directors to share both their and member’s views during decision-making processes and when formulating future plans
• Members therefore have a voice, through the Council of Governors (their elected representatives), which ultimately helps us to shape our future service provisions to more meet our members’, and their family’s needs.