About Us

The Trust is committed to providing excellent health and social care for people with mental ill health, physical ill health and those with learning disabilities. We do this by providing services which make a positive difference to the lives of patients, service users and their carers, underpinned by the principles of choice, independence and equality.

We provide integrated health and social care across community and inpatient settings treating and caring for people across Hertfordshire, Norfolk and North Essex.

Our partnership arrangements with the local authority provide an excellent opportunity to develop a recovery orientated approach based on a holistic assessment of both health and social care needs. We also aim to play a full part in the local health and social care economies that we serve by promoting greater integration between mental and physical health and social care.

We are a University trust, with close links to the University of Hertfordshire providing excellent learning and development opportunities for staff, as well as strengthening clinical research.

We have operated as a NHS foundation trust since our authorisation in August 2007 and greatly value the opportunities that this provides us with to further build upon and improve the services for our community. Benefits include:

• A stronger involvement with local communities through our members and Council of Governors

• The ability to borrow finance to support our capital investment programme

• Retaining our surpluses to re-invest in local service developments and facilities

• Working more closely with our partner organisations, meaning we can grow and develop our services specifically to meet the needs of our service users and communities

Our vision

to be the leading provider of mental health and specialist learning disability services in the country

To be a leading provider, we must offer high quality care with excellent treatment outcomes, within a safe environment which meets the needs of service users.

Our vision is underpinned by eight goals which inform our entire strategy.

• To deliver high quality integrated health and social care services in accordance with recovery principles

• To be the provider of choice for service users, carers, the community and commissioners

• To work in partnership with the community to promote the wellbeing of others, whilst making a positive contribution to the environment

• To be the employer of choice where staff are highly valued, well supported and rewarded

• To create a dynamic and flexible working environment where staff are motivated and committed to providing high quality care

• To embed a learning culture where staff develop their full potential and deliver excellent care

• To ensure a sustainable future through income growth and efficient use of resources

• To be an innovative and learning organisation that embraces new and modern approaches to health and social care

How our vision was formed

Working on where the Trust should be in five years time and what the aspirations are for the organisation, the Board concluded that we should be the ‘best’ in all respects.

Discussions as to what constituted the best are identified below.

• Providing services tailored to service users, carers and commissioners
• Forging good relationships with all service users, carers, partners and commissioners
• Employing the best workforce able to provide care at the cutting edge of innovative practice
• Exceeding performance targets against both our Key Performance Indicators and the Annual Health Check

• Communicating effectively

As part of the consultation process, we have sought the views of service users, governors, members, staff, commissioners and other stakeholders in developing our five year strategy and are confident that it not only reflects their views and priorities, but is based on a vision that can inspire and match those of the people we work for.