Our job is to provide NHS care to the local community. It’s important we stay in touch with what people want from our services and what they think of them. Recruiting people as members is one way we can do this.
Simply by signing up as a member you will be showing your support for services we provide and the people we care for; the more members we have; the greater the voice to help end mental health discrimation.
Who can become a member?
There are four membership categories:
Service user: people who have used our services in the past five years
Carer: a carer of someone who has used our services in the past five years
Public: anyone interested in our services living in Brighton and Hove, East or West Sussex or other geographical areas where we provide services
Staff: a permanent member of staff, on a fixed-term contract of at least 12 months or social care staff who work at Sussex Partnership
If you use our services, you may choose to be in either the service user or public category of membership. The staff category is only for people working at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Staff are automatically offered membership and don’t need to complete a membership form.
How can I join?
You can join as a member if you’re over the age of 14, use our services or care for someone who does, work here or live in one of the geographical areas where we provide services and have an interest in what we do. You can complete an online application here.
Take a Lead - Governor Election
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust recently held an election to the Council of Governors. Becoming a governor is an exciting opportunity to represent the interest of Foundation Trust members and partner organisations from the local community. Voting closed on the 1st October and we were pleased to welcome nine governors; the results of the election are available here .
Our Strategy
As the Trust evolved the provision and delivery of services it's important that we remain accountable to our service users, carers, staff and the public. Through using the knowledge of our members and their experiences we have refreshed our Membership Strategy to come in line with our Trust's organisational strategy which focuses on People, Prevention and Partnerships and will assist us to ensure we continue to improve the quality of life for the communities we serve. See our full Membership Strategy for 2020-2025 or for a quick glance we have produced a Strategy on a page.
Virtual Membership Discussion: Engaging with our communities
On Tuesday 6th October membeship held its first virtual drop-in session as part of Worthing Mental Health Awareness Week. The session was called Engaging with our communities and was themed around our new Membership Strategy for 2020-2025. We were pleased to welcome members, governors and colleagues from partner organisations who helped us consider new ways in which we can adapt our engagament with members and their communities. A summary of our discussion is available here and we would like to thank the organisers of Worthing Mental Health Awareness Week for having us and putting on such a great events.
Our governors will be hosting further virtual discussions throughout 2021 and dates will be available shortly. We hope you are able to join us.
Contact us
Steve Perrott is our Membership Co-ordinator and he is always happy to anwer any queries you may have, so feel free to contact Steve on email ft@sussexpartnership.nhs.uk or by telephone on 0800 015 3357
