Annual Report and Accounts 2012/13 - Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital

5. Our Governors and Members
Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust
Annual Report and Accounts 2012/13
121
Our Members
The Trust is a public benefit corporation that exists for
the sole purpose of providing healthcare services to the
population it serves.
All Foundation Trusts are obliged,
under statute, to have members and
Monitor – the sector regulator – takes
the view that a FT's membership
should be of a reasonable size. The
Board of Directors are obliged to
keep in touch with the opinions of
members and the wider public as
key stakeholders. Membership is a
distinguishing feature of FTs, which
brings with it substantial benefits. As
a membership organisation, the RD&E
endeavours to reach out to inform
members about what is happening
at the Trust, as well as listening to
their concerns and opinions on service
delivery, on how to improve patient
experience and on influencing its
longer-term strategy.
About our members
On the whole, the Trust’s membership
broadly reflects the average profile
for the wider community served
by the Trust. Key findings from an
analysis undertaken of our members
in comparison to the wider community
showed that members are:
• Similar to the socialdemographic
groups found in
our constituencies. The majority
of members are, on the whole,
comfortably well off
NRS Socio-economic Distribution – Public Constituency
% of population
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
ABC1 C2 D E
NRS category
• Membership • Local Area
Gender Distribution – Public Constituency
% of population
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Male
Female
NRS category
• Membership • Local Area