MyNHS Walsall

MyNHS Walsall – the pioneering free public membership scheme which gives local people a chance to have their say on how health services are planned, developed and delivered – has received welcome recognition for its continuing achievements.

The MyNHS Walsall membership scheme and its Parliament were among the winners at Walsall’s second annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Awards recently.

The awards were hosted by the Mayor of Walsall Councillor Gary Clarke, sponsored by the Co-operative Society and organised by Intelligence Matters Research Consultancy.

Collecting the award, on behalf of MyNHS Walsall and NHS Walsall (Walsall Primary Care Trust, the organisation which established MyNHS Walsall in 2008) were MyNHS Parliament members Mike Abel and John Pagett (chair and vice-chair respectively of the Parliament’s Steering Committee)

Mike Abel said: "I was delighted to accept this award on behalf of MyNHS Walsall.
 

“It is much welcomed recognition of the commitment and hard work that all the staff and volunteers have put into helping to improve health services for people in Walsall.

"It was both humbling and inspiring to hear our achievement ranked alongside the many other outstanding corporate social responsibility activites in Walsall" 

Dr Geoff Archenhold, Chair of NHS Walsall, Speaker of the MyNHS Parliament and one of the pioneers of the scheme added: “I’m extremely proud to see that this innovative and somewhat groundbreaking idea of giving the public a real say in how their health services are delivered has grown to be so successful.

“With the changes now taking place in the health landscape it is even more important for us to help empower MyNHS Walsall to become the leading advocate of the public voice for health services in Walsall.”

PICTURE CAPTION: Pictured at the CSR Awards are (from left): Mike Abel, John Pagett, Mayor of Walsall Councillor Gary Clark, Mayoress Yvonne Clark, NHS Walsall Director of Partnerships Yvonne Thomas and Dr Geoff Archenhold.

For more information please contact:

The NHS Walsall Communications Team on 01922 618355

Notes to Editors:

MyNHS Walsall is the groundbreaking public membership scheme for people with an interest in local health issues.

Established by NHS Walsall in 2008, it merged with the Foundation Trust membership scheme of Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust in 2010. Membership currently stands at just over 14,000, making it the biggest patient involvement organisation in the borough.

Members are represented by an 80-strong Parliament.  The full Parliament meets quarterly, with members taking part in a wide range of working groups and committees in between meetings.

Parliamentarians have played an active role in developing local health services, influencing everything from training for GPs in diagnosing dementia to a borough wide strategy for primary care.