Kent and Medway NHS Foundation Trust confirms its social impact commitment
Leading mental health provider, Kent and Medway NHS Foundation Trust (KMPT), has marked a new stage in its social impact journey.
The Trust has been working with the Purpose Health and Social Care Coalition to develop an Impact Report, examining what it is already doing to tackle equality of opportunity and exploring where it can go even further. It is the largest provider of mental health care across the region, offering specialist services in Sussex, Surrey and beyond in diverse communities across rural and urban areas which include some of the most deprived in the UK.
It is also the largest employer in the region, with a workforce of over 3,500 people from 66 nationalities. As an anchor institution, it is committed to delivering social value, guided by its vision is to provide outstanding care and to work in partnership to deliver this in the right place, for every service user, every time.
The Report maps KMPT’s activities across 14 Purpose Goals which correlate with the barriers that can prevent equality of opportunity, from early years to digital inclusion and from positive destinations post-16 to sustainable communities. Its focus is on Goal 8 Good Health and Wellbeing but the good practice the report features also highlights that it has a much wider reach - investing in youth, promoting inclusivity and diversity, prioritising workforce wellbeing, addressing digital inclusion, and championing equality and diversity.
The Report also identifies areas where the Trust can make even more of an impact on its colleagues, its patients and the wider communities it serves:
Measuring socioeconomic background to gain a wider understanding of the organisation’s diversity and identify progression challenges;
Scaling up outreach activities through strategic community assessment to target those in most need;
Leading the supply chain through social value-based procurement, reframing its relationship with suppliers and businesses;
Forging a regional partnership with fellow Purpose Coalition member, Southeastern Railway, to pioneer an innovative approach to mental health provision and community engagement.
KMPT is continuing to work with the Purpose Health and Social Care Coalition and has already initiated work on some of these recommendations.
Presenting the Impact Report to KMPT’s Board, Purpose Health & Social Care Director and former Public Health Minister, Rt Hon Anne Milton, said:
”It was fantastic to speak at the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust today. I am very impressed with all they have achieved and it was a great opportunity to talk about their impact report. We talked through some of their recommendations and where they see some of the next steps for them will be.”
KMPT Chief Executive Sheila Stenson said:
“This report is just the start of our social impact journey. One in four of us will experience poor mental health at some point in our lives; we are confident we can go beyond our ‘day job’ and use our position and affiliation with the Purpose Health and Social Care Coalition to do more.
“As we continue to care for more people in the local community, and address key issues impacting them, we are even better placed to help people live well and address regional imbalances.”
You can read the report below.
