How we make decisions
North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust is a public organisation and is accountable for conducting and managing its business within a set framework. Our main decision-making groups are dictated by national guidance.
Trust board
The Trust Board is the governing body of the Trust and is held to account for our performance in delivering healthcare and health improvement. The Board aims to provide leadership, to set strategic aims and to identify and maintain our values. The Board is made up of lay Non-Executive Directors and Executive Directors who are employees. This membership is in line with guidance published by the NHS Executive.
Public and patient involvement (PPI)
Building a partnership between health providers, patients and the public is at the heart of our organisation. This is so we can:
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Strengthen our accountability to local communities
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Provide a health service that genuinely responds to patients and carers
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Engender a sense of ownership and trust
The PPI systems the Trust currently has, or is developing, range from the involvement of patients in their own personal care and treatment through our new Patient Experience Toolkit to engaging local communities in monitoring and planning services through other organisations such as NHS Cumbria (Cumbria's teaching primary care trust) and the Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee of Cumbria County Council.
The PPI contacts within the Trust are:
Ramona Duguid, Company Secretary - 01228 814000
Chris Platton, Acting Director of Nursing, Quality and Governance - 01946 523072
Public consultations
Primary Care Trusts as commissioners of hospital services, carry out public consultations. Their most recent consultation was called Closer to Home and was carried out between September 2007 and January 2008. You can find more information concerning this from NHS Cumbria. There are currently no public consultations within our own Trust.
Internal communications
The Trust has a Communication and Engagement Strategy which includes a section on how we communicate internally with our staff. The Trust informs its staff about a wide variety of issues through a weekly corporate e-news bulletin, a monthly newsletter, a staff intranet site, bi-monthly team briefings, Chief Executive Question Times and Executive Director walkabouts. There is also an effective Rumour Board email service where staff are free to ask any questions or raise any concerns with the Trust.