Help put mental health on the map
09 September 2009
A new website has been launched by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) to recruit service users, carers and anyone else with an interest in mental health as a member of their NHS foundation Trust. The website (www.members.slam.nhs.uk) includes articles on stress and stigma featuring the work of experts at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s. Anyone in England and Wales can become a member and it’s free to join.
Reasons to join as a member of SLaM:
Help put mental health on the map. In the past, mental health services have sometimes been seen as the poor relation to other parts of the NHS. If you believe that mental health services are important, then you can show your support by joining up as a member of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM).
Put yourself forward for election. As a member, you can stand in the elections for SLaM’s Members’ Council, which has a statutory role in overseeing the organisation’s strategic direction. There are seats on the Members’ Council for individual staff, service users, carers and public. The deadline for putting yourself forward for election to the Members’ Council is the 16th September 2009. To register log onto: www.members.slam.nhs.uk/members/
Sign up and have a vote. You need to be a member in order to have a vote in deciding who sits on our Members’ Council.
Help determine SLaM’s priorities. As an NHS Foundation Trust, the SLaM Board of Directors has a statutory responsibility to take account of the views of the Members’ Council on issues such as determining priorities for the future. As a member, you decide who sits on the Council.
Add your weight to the voice of SLaM membership. Membership provides an opportunity for service users, carers, health and social care professionals to come together and create a powerful voice to lobby for informed public debate about mental health issues. You don’t need to agree with everything the Trust does in order to become a member – the only ‘party line’ SLaM ask you to share is a belief in the rights of people with mental health problems to receive dignity, respect and effective care and treatment
Help make the most of membership. The concept of membership is still evolving at SLaM. By becoming a member, you have an opportunity to influence this.
Make SLaM truly representative. Mental health and well being is an issue for everyone. SLaM needs a broad range of opinion to help make the best possible decisions about how to provide healthcare. So, it is important that the membership isn’t just made up of health and social care professionals. Other groups – including service users, carers and public – need to have a voice.
For more information:
Telephone: 0800 019 6075
E-mail: membership@slam.nhs.uk
Website: www.members.slam.nhs.uk