Background
As part of its application for Foundation Trust status, The
Poole Hospital NHS Trust needed to obtain 2,500 people signed up as
public members by 6th September 2007 and a further 500 people
signed up by the end of October 2007.
The team at Poole Hospital had already achieved 1,700 members,
but needed the rest recruited over a four week period in August
2007. While there was an emphasis on generating a large number of
members quickly, the hospital requested they were ‘quality members’
with genuine awareness and interest in the Trust and the service it
provides.
We focussed on a short-term strategy to get commitment over a
five week period. This three-pronged approach encompassed
one-to-one canvassing, a tactical targeting campaign and working
with the Trust’s PR team, providing suitable news angles to
generate a positive media campaign.
The insight
As a Foundation Trust, Poole Hospital would remain an NHS
hospital but would have more financial freedom to reinvest their
surplus funds at the end of each financial year. This would enable
the hospital to provide a much needed new Maternity Unit and to
redevelop the Accident & Emergency Department.
Foundation Trust status would also enable local people, patients
and staff to have more involvement in the development of their
hospital. It was carefully explained to individuals that as a
member of a Foundation Trust their involvement in the hospital
would be more like being a member of a mutual society or club and
that they could elect a council to represent their views. The
hospital wished to give the public a voice with the anticipation
that the services would meet patients’ needs more closely.
The solution
Canvassing – Merchant Healthcare Marketing placed two briefed
healthcare marketing professionals in the hospital’s outpatient
waiting areas over the course of August. The recruiters carefully
explained the benefits of Poole NHS Trust becoming a Foundation
Trust and canvassed members accordingly.
To meet the right socio-economic mix of public members,
initiatives were proposed including canvassing visitors to the
neighbouring maternity hospital, the nearby private BMI The Harbour
Hospital, Turlin Moor Fun Day and Poole Park Fest.
Tactical targeting – The aim was to use tactical marketing to
engage younger, healthier public members. Merchant Healthcare
Marketing researched a strong list of 24 target businesses in Poole
and the surrounding areas. We approached HR directors and Heads of
Personnel to recruit as many of their employees as possible. Over
three days 18,000 employees were invited to become members via the
third-party endorsement of their employer. Other initiatives –
During the tactical targeting campaign, we became aware of other
opportunities which were forwarded to Poole Hospital’s member
generation and PR manager to progress including:
- Liverpool Victoria offered the opportunity for someone from the
Trust to have a representative in the staff restaurant during a
lunch period.
- Poole News, a bi-monthly newspaper for households in the Poole
Borough area and Business Briefing, a publication for the local
business community, both agreed to run articles about the Trust in
a bid to aid recruitment.
Regional media coverage
The Trust had recently appointed a PR officer to carry out media
relations and PR. Merchant Healthcare Marketing proposed a series
of PR initiatives to heighten the recruitment of members and
awareness of the hospital becoming a Foundation Trust. News angles
included:
- Dorset celebrity signing up – we offered to help source a local
celebrity
- Key local companies signing up
- 2,000th public member, youngest member etc.
- Feature piece on the move to Foundation Trust, with profile of
half a dozen members and why they support the application
- Asking the Chief Executive of Poole Hospital to talk on local
radio including a listener phone-in with queries, support and
concerns which could be addressed on-air.
The result
The Poole Hospital NHS Trust reached its target of 2,500 new
members. Merchant Healthcare Marketing recruited 1,400 public
members over five half-days and six full days by face-to-face
canvassing in Poole Hospital’s outpatient waiting areas. The rest
were obtained via a number of initiatives including the tactical
targeting campaign during which Merchant Healthcare Marketing
contacted 24 organisations with extensive workforces in Poole and
the surrounding areas. As a result, we reached out to around 18,000
employees with details of the intended changes at Poole Hospital
and an invitation to apply to become a public member.