Trust scoops national award for championing community engagement

24 May 2019

SaTH has scooped a national award for the work it does with the communities it serves.

The Trust has been crowned the 2019 Engagement Champion by engagement specialists, MES. The award recognised the Trust’s People’s Academy and Young People’s Academy, which were set up last year to help people gain an insight into the NHS and how it works in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Mid Wales.

The People’s Academy involves attending four sessions over four weeks, and includes presentations, behind the scenes visits, demonstrations, activities and opportunities for participants to ask senior staff questions.

The Young People’s Academy is a one-day course aimed at people between 16 and 25-years-old, and is a condensed version of the People’s Academy. It also includes an opportunity to talk to SaTH’s work experience and apprenticeship teams.

Kate Ballinger, Community Engagement Facilitator at SaTH, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won the national Engagement Champion award from MES. They are the only people who award specifically for engagement and for our People’s Academy and Young People’s Academy to be recognised is really special.

“This award belongs to everyone who has helped to create and deliver the academy sessions, and I would like to thank them all.”

Julia Clarke, Director of Corporate Governance at SaTH, said: “SaTH is incredibly committed to working hand in hand with our communities to give them a voice to make sure that we deliver the very best healthcare for them.

“We are delighted to be recognised for our efforts, and we are very proud of the work being done in our academies. I would encourage all those with an interest in the NHS, and finding out how it works locally, to take part in our academies. They are free and open to all.”

Nick Goodman, Managing Director at MES, a specialist engagement consultancy which works with the NHS, said: “It is with great pleasure that MES were able to award our 2019 Engagement Champion award to The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust for their great work with the People’s Academy.

“The four judges each marked all eight shortlisted entries independently with the scores then tallied at the end to find our winner. Particular attention was paid in the scoring to innovation, impact, meaningfulness and whether the work is truly embedded.

“The judging panel scored the Trust highly in all regards. It was closely fought with a number of other extremely strong contenders not far behind, but the work the team at the Trust is doing is excellent. It was a great moment at our annual Challenge 2020 conference to be able to crown the Trust the 2019 Engagement Champions.”