NHS charities join forces to show their impact on the nation’s health
A group of NHS Charities are leading the way in demonstrating charitable impact on the NHS and patients in the UK.
The project, involving ten charities from the Maddox Group of NHS Charities, is spearheaded by Imperial College Healthcare Charity, CW+ (Chelsea + Westminster Health Charity) and the Royal Free Charity. The group’s efforts have resulted in a new set of guidelines that will help fellow NHS Charities develop shared methods of measuring impact.
The NHS Charities Evaluation Guidance was launched yesterday at a meeting of the Association of NHS Charities by the charities involved and their partner, independent charity consultancy and think tank New Philanthropy Capital (NPC).
Ian Lush, Chief Executive of Imperial College Healthcare Charity, said: “We’ve witnessed first-hand the role of our charity change in recent years, evolving into one that is integral to our NHS Trust being able to deliver better care for patients as well as cutting-edge research and new services.
“This research, led by the Maddox Group of larger NHS Charities and working with partners from the Association of NHS Charities, shows that NHS Charities play a key role in these areas. Being able to evaluate and demonstrate our impact on patients, families, visitors and staff is essential, and will allow us to target our limited resources effectively.”
There are currently more than 250 NHS Charities across the UK. With financial pressures on the NHS continuing to increase, these charities now play an increasingly vital role in supporting hospitals and Trusts, providing them with £321million of additional funding each year and jointly managing over £2bn in assets.
This will be the first time the charities have pooled their resources, which will lead to a shared measurement approach to showcasing their impact. The guidance has been designed to work for all charities involved, regardless of size, scope and individual aims.
Mark Norbury, Chief Executive of CW+ said: “CW+ is proud to have jointly developed this exciting shared vision for the impact NHS Charities can achieve. Working collaboratively, we can look forward to further improving clinical outcomes, research investment, hospital sustainability and patient experience, with a view to always pushing ourselves to do the most we can for patients and their families every day.”
Chris Burghes, Chief Executive of the Royal Free Charity, stated: “The Royal Free Charity is proud to be part of this initiative by the Maddox Group to start demonstrating the impact NHS hospital charities have on patients. Increasingly the Royal Free Charity is directly providing services and help to patients to ensure that their experience within the hospital is as good as it can be and by measuring our impact, it not only highlights the value of our work to our donors and stakeholders but more importantly the value improved service have to the clinical outcomes of patients.”
Sally Bagwell, Deputy Head of the Charity Team at NPC and one of the guide’s authors, said: “We’ve been delighted to work with the Maddox Group on this project. The environment in which NHS Charities work is changing, and their ability to demonstrate their impact is more important than ever. I hope this report will help set NHS Charities on the road to achieving that.”
The NHS Charities Evaluation Guidance can be downloaded for free from: www.thinknpc.org/publications/nhs-charities-evaluation-guidance
-Notes to editors-
For more information about the project , or any of the charities involved, please contact Imperial College Healthcare Charity’s communications manager Bevis Man on [email protected] or call 0203 312 2061.
Imperial College Healthcare Charity
Imperial College Healthcare Charity believes everyone deserves the best care possible. The charity raises funds for five London hospitals within Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust: Charing Cross, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea, St Mary’s and Western Eye hospitals. Since 2009, it has awarded over £20million in grants to over 400 pieces of clinical research and staff led healthcare projects, and supports major redevelopments within the hospitals. www.imperialcharity.org.uk @ImperialCharity
CW+
CW+ exists to make care better for patients and their families at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It brings together pioneering research, innovation, art and design to transform the experience and outcomes for thousands of people every day – at Chelsea and Westminster, in the wider community and internationally. www.cwplus.org.uk @cwpluscharity
Royal Free Charity
The Royal Free Charity invests over £15m a year in the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust both in terms of providing grants but also in providing services to patients. Its core aim is to directly help every patient every day so that their experience of the hospital is as good as it can be. www.royalfreecharity.org
The Maddox Group
The Maddox Group is a group of CEOs of NHS Charities looking to build a shared vision, evidence base and understanding of the vital role that NHS charities play in the health system. The group was created in 2013 in response to (a) the ever increasing financial pressures on the NHS; (b) the opportunity/need for charities to help create a more effective integrated health and care system; (c) the increasingly competitive fundraising landscape; (d) the changes in the regulatory landscape which mean NHS Charities can choose to be independent of Department of Health regulation; and (e) the desire of these charities to grow, improve, collaborate and learn.
A meeting of the Maddox Group and fellow CEOs led to agreement from a number of partners to examine and understand how charities can better capture, define, measure and demonstrate impact on both an individual level and across the NHS Charity sector as a whole. This report has been commissioned by Maddox Group members; Chelsea + Westminster Health Charity (CW+), Imperial College Healthcare Charity and the Royal Free Charity and led by chosen partner New Philanthropy Capital (NPC).
NPC
NPC (New Philanthropy Capital) is a charity think tank and consultancy which occupies a unique position at the nexus between charities and funders, helping them achieve the greatest impact. It is driven by the values and
mission of the charity sector, to which it brings the rigour, clarity and analysis needed to better achieve the outcomes we all seek. It also shares the motivations and passion of funders, to which it brings its expertise, experience and track record of success. www.thinkNPC.org @NPCthinks
