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
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• Provide a litmus test on what
matters most to those who are
already receiving healthcare or are
likely to use these services in
the future
• Provide Members with the
opportunity to give voice to their
views and influence the Trust in a
number of different ways in line
with the ethos of a Public Benefit
Corporation.
In addition, Members’ Say events
provide part of the rationale for
membership of the Trust - having
the opportunity to attend an event
is part of the benefit that being a
member entails. Holding such events
demonstrates to existing and potential
future members that membership
means something and offers those
that want it a way of becoming more
actively engaged.
It is also worth noting that the views
of patients and members are not
interchangeable. Clearly patients
are the RD&E’s most important
stakeholders and the Trust has a range
of mechanisms to understand and
analyse their views. While a significant
proportion of members are or have
been patients, they offer a different
perspective; people who have had time
to reflect on their experiences often
across a range of different services;
people who can compare services in
the RD&E with health services offered
by other public and private providers;
people who may need the services
of an acute hospital in the future –
potential patients; people who have
friends and family with a wide range
of different experiences that have
coloured their view; people who
represent the wider opinions of the
local community as taxpaying citizens
within a framework that is based on a
degree of accountability between a FT
and the population it serves.