Join us as a member

Becoming a member of our Foundation Trust means that you will be able to:

• Become actively involved in the work of the Trust and help shape our future plans
• Be consulted on major plans
• Be invited to Trust open days and special members information sessions
• Receive regular information about the Trust
• Elect Council Governors
• Stand for election as a Council Governor
• Make sure your views and those of your community are heard.
• Get a better understanding of how the Trust works and share in our successes

As a member, you can be involved as much or as little as you like. We have different levels of membership:

• Level 1 – Receive regular information, eg annual newsletter and consultation on the Trust’s future plans
• Level 2 – Level 1 plus attending annual open days and members’ information sessions
• Level 3 – Levels 1 and 2 plus participation in members groups, surveys and standing for election to the Council of Governors.

Anyone can become a member providing they are over 16 years of age.  You don’t even have to live in the immediate area as we also have a constituency for public members called ‘Rest of England’. All our staff are automatically made Foundation Trust members unless they choose to opt out.

Membership is free, and how engaged you are as a member is entirely up to you. You might want simply to receive an occasional newsletter, or receive more regular information about the work of our hospitals or about health issues affecting you or your family. Or you might want to play a more active role, participating in focus groups or surveys, becoming a volunteer, or standing for a seat on the Council of Governors. Being a member will not affect your treatment at our hospital.

Membership is divided into 2 different categories - public and staff. Both public and staff members are then divided into constituencies - based on your postcode if you are a public member and based on your job/profession type if you are staff member. Anyone who lives in one of the following areas is eligible for public membership:

Staff employed by Airedale NHS Foundation Trust will automatically be made members of the staff constituency, unless they specify that they do not want to be a member.  If you are in any of these groups, you do not need to complete a membership application form. 

If you are a volunteer at our hospital, you can also opt to join the staff constituency, but you will need to complete a membership application form to do this.

Foundation Trusts are accountable to their members via a new body called the Council of Governors, which works closely with the hospital’s Board of Directors to develop strategy and plans. 

The Council of Governors is made up of public and staff members elected from each of our constituencies.  It also includes representatives appointed from other organisations such as local primary care trusts, local councils and voluntary and business partners. 

As a member, you can vote for others to represent you on the Council of Governors, or stand for election yourself. 

• You must be 16 years or over to become a member, but there is no upper age limit
• any one who has threatened, harassed, harmed or abused staff, patients and/or visitors of the Trust or has been a vexatious complainant is not eligible to become a member
• Members can join one constituency only within our Foundation Trust

If you would like to be a member of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, let us have your name, address and a contact telephone number and we will send you a hard copy of our application form. You can contact us in the following ways:

E-mail: members@anhst.nhs.uk

Telephone: 01535 292727

Write to us at :