Strategy Taking action. Hearing 1 loss: a national and local response

Transcription

1 Strategy Taking action Hearing 1 loss: a national and local response

2 Action on Hearing Loss: a national and local vision Since we were founded in 1911, we have always had a mission to influence the national agenda and to deliver quality local services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. More than a century on, the charity has grown and changed in innumerable ways but we have remained remarkably true to that original vision. Through our centenary and the accompanying rebrand to Action on Hearing Loss we reflected and consulted with the many people who use or influence our services. This helped us gather a clear picture of the scale of the issues around hearing loss in the UK, powerfully summarised in our Hearing Matters report. Over the last year, as we began preparing our new five-year strategic plan, we have again consulted widely with our many supporters, service users and partners. So we can be confident that our future direction genuinely meets the needs and aspirations of those who are already affected by hearing loss and by the many more we know will feel its impact in the years to come. What we have heard, again and again, from thousands of people, is that our information and services provide a lifeline to people who understand the powerful impact hearing loss can have on their lives. And so they want us to take those services to more people, so that we can be there for everyone when and where they need us. They also told us that our investment in the future, through funding biomedical research which will one day provide a cure for hearing loss and tinnitus, is vital work. Our supporters want to believe that future generations will not live with the isolation that many of them experience on a daily basis. With this as our starting point we have put much energy into developing a new strategy to take these ambitions forward. And to achieve these ambitions we have to work in a very different way. Our priority is to adopt a streamlined structure so we can work in a more integrated way with a real focus on long-term goals and the milestones that will ensure we reach them. 2

3 Planning for the future in the middle of a global recession: balancing the huge scale of need with financial uncertainties, was always going to be a challenge. So we have listened to what people have told us and focused our planning on the parts of our work where the need is greatest and where we have the potential to make a real difference. We won t replicate services that are already delivered well by other organisations, but will work with others so that everyone has access to the support they need. So, although we face financial constraints, particularly in the first year, over the five years of this plan we will extend our local presence so we are there for more people. Meanwhile, we ll continue to campaign and influence at a national level. No other organisation has the depth of knowledge and understanding of hearing issues that we gain through our research and engagement with our members and the people we support. From the very beginning we have influenced governments and the healthcare sector to the benefit of people with hearing loss. Need for us to do that has never been greater. Our vision is of a world where deafness, hearing loss and tinnitus do not limit or label people and where people value their hearing. To achieve this we will work tirelessly, both locally and nationally. Together we really can make a difference. Paul Breckell Chief Executive 3

4 Who we need to reach Hearing loss affects either directly or potentially all of us. That s a lot of people to reach. We need to focus our activities or we risk failing too many people in need. So thanks to our consultation process, we have learned exactly who we need to be serving. Below you can see how we will be prioritising our many potential audiences. Our main focus will be people who have been diagnosed with hearing loss or tinnitus, from people diagnosed with age-related hearing loss, right through to people who were born profoundly deaf. loss hearing of risk at People loss hearing unaddressed with People People with hearing loss and/or tinnitus 4

5 What we want to do SUPPORT PEOPLE NATIONAL VOICE FIND CURES LOCALLY Charitable offerings: Information, signposting and advice Social support Commissioned offerings: Care and support Hearing aid support services Joint sensory services Tinnitus support Employment and wellbeing Supporting young people Social support Raising awareness: Putting hearing loss on the national agenda. Influencing: Leading the sector in forming policy based on social research. Campaigning in a targeted and effective way. Funding world class discoveries and translational research. Supporting the training of a new generation of scientists. Working with others to ensure new treatments are developed quickly. NATIONALLY Website Information Line Supported by INFORMATION FUNDRAISING COMMERCIAL SERVICES CORPORATE RESOURCES 5

6 Making our vision a reality At Action on Hearing Loss, we are focused 100% on how we can reach and support people with hearing loss. Until everyone understands the extent to which hearing loss can damage people s lives, costing jobs and relationships, causing isolation and depression, it s all too easily seen as a minor inconvenience. Yet there are endless ways that small interventions, such as information and advice, peer support, technical devices and communication support, can bring about radical improvements in quality of life. We believe everyone should have choice and control over how they live their lives. We are working towards a set of goals that we firmly believe are achievable and that will change people s lives for the better. In particular, as the number of older people in our population increases, we want no one to be isolated by their hearing loss. Our many conversations with people who are deaf or have hearing loss or tinnitus have led us to create outcome statements that sum up our vision of how we believe people want to be supported. All our work will be focused on achieving the following outcomes: Everyone has the right information, advice, care and support. I value my hearing and protect it. I manage my hearing loss and I know where to go if I need support. I ve got all the information, advice and access to communication and technology that I need. There is a range of equipment, treatments and cures available. I can hear well. My tinnitus has been silenced. My grandchildren won t suffer because of hearing loss or tinnitus. Equality and life choices are not limited. I ve got the right communication support, equipment and information. I m a valued member of society, treated with dignity and respect. People understand my hearing loss and communicate with confidence. 6

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8 How we will work Our ambition is that, at a local level, people will get the highquality information, support, services and products they need, how, when and where they re needed. In return, at a national level, we ll work tirelessly to change the big things that affect people with hearing loss as a whole. We have agreed a set of operating principles that show how we will approach all areas of our work. We re at a place near you We re committed to delivering services in communities across the UK. We work with people in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. We listen to people Our policies and strategy are built on evidence we gather. We ll deliver services and products based on what consumers and customers tell us. We continuously consult with our supporters and people we support. We value our staff and volunteers We support and train people to work effectively and collaboratively. We work together We ll work with partners, if this is what s best for people with hearing loss. We may choose national, regional or local organisations, in the private, public or third sectors. We champion people s rights We ll hold decision-makers to account: so services are improved and gaps filled so public health standards rise. We believe this will free up money for the government to deliver more and better services. We constantly seek best value for money We maximise economy, efficiency and effectiveness. We will have systems and processes that are fit for purpose. We deliver value for money We will maximise what we can achieve with minimum waste. Our infrastructure will be lean and efficient. 8

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10 How we will reach people We are proud to be a nationwide organisation, but, as the map shows, our presence across the country services including hearing aid support, care homes and outreach information projects isn t as broad and consistent as we d like it to be. 10

11 What we will do To fill in these gaps, we will profile every geographical area to identify the people who need support with their hearing loss. We will use this vital information to establish and deliver the service that is most needed (or use an existing service) for that population. From each of these hubs, we will grow various associated activities, such as volunteers providing information in audiology clinics and fundraisers raising money from local events. These activities will vary in each area, but the ultimate aim is that, eventually, all the hubs will join up to achieve blanket coverage across the UK so there are no gaps in services delivered to people in need. Here is an example of how this might look: Outreach service Tinnitus support group Hearing aid support service Sensory service We have divided our strategy into: 1. What we do 2. How we support it. What we do Local service delivery community services Local service delivery care and support National voice Biomedical research How we support it Information provision Fundraising Commercial services Corporate resources Local fundraising group Audiology information stand 11

12 Local service delivery community services People with hearing loss tell us that they need two things: information to help them manage their condition, and access to services and equipment. Through our Local Engagement teams, in the four nations of the UK, we provide both these things, reaching tens of thousands of people each year. While services vary between countries (and, indeed, regions), depending on demand, other service provision and funding available, these are our core offerings that people constantly tell us can transform lives. We receive very positive feedback on our local services but we simply aren t reaching all the people who could benefit. We will: reach more people by increasing our local presence create local services that mix charitable and commissioned activity, often operating out of the same hubs recruit significantly more volunteers to deliver the growth we envisage grow our local fundraising and campaigning activity. Our services are delivered thanks to a mix of charitable and statutory funding: Charitable offerings Commissioned offerings Information, signposting and advice Social support Supporting local campaigns and fundraising activities Hearing aid support services Joint sensory services Tinnitus support Employment and wellbeing Supporting young people Social support 12

13 Local service delivery community services Our promises and ambitions BY 2014 We will roll out our hub and spoke operating model across the country: the basis of our local engagement and other activities. We will develop a marketing plan, informed by evidence. We will close any local services that are not economically viable, while delivering our strong existing services and bidding for new contracts. We will pilot community fundraising activities. The people who use our services will further inform our campaigning activity. BY 2018 Our hub and spoke model will be well established. We will be working within an ISO 9000 framework to guarantee our users can trust the quality of our services. We will have established a growth strategy, using local data to understand where to target areas for development. BY 2033 There will be a local hearing aid support service in every area of the UK. 13

14 Local service delivery care and support We provide an exceptional level of care for people who are deaf with additional needs, whose quality of life can only be enhanced in an environment where staff and volunteers understand and often share their communication issues. Our invaluable personalised service is deeply appreciated by the people who use our services, and their families, and it consistently scores highly with regulators. We believe that our care and support services: are so valuable they should be available to significantly more people provide a viable business model for growth which would not put pressure on our voluntary income. This means that our immediate priority will be to create a fiveyear, business development strategy, based on: sustaining and developing core work in residential, supported housing and community outreach creating financial and service models to develop new services such as nursing, respite and supporting young people seeking further opportunities for working in partnership continuing to focus on quality, outcomes and personalisation. To produce this plan we need: to develop marketing insight, profiling our potential users so we can target services and use appropriate promotional channels to be integrated into the organisation s fundraising strategy so that, although these will be commissioned services, they provide an opportunity to bring in additional voluntary income, enabling us to enhance the quality of service still further. to involve people who use our services, and their families, so our services evolve in line with their needs and expectations to use more volunteers, including those who are deaf and hard of hearing. 14

15 Local service delivery care and support Our promises and ambitions BY 2014 We will pilot new services. We will implement a marketing strategy. We will always focus on outcomes and continue our personalisation work. BY 2018 We will have involved those who use our services, and their families, more. We will have expanded our existing services and developed new services and new types of services across the country. The people who use our services will inform and assist our campaigning activity. BY 2033 We will deliver more, and more diverse, services in every country and region of the UK. We will be the employer of choice for care staff. We will have influenced government and commissioners to commission on the basis of quality and outcomes not principally price delivering improved quality for everybody who uses care and support services. 15

16 National voice To achieve the goals we set out in Hearing Matters and the objectives in our outcome statements, society s attitudes to hearing loss need to change. By making our voice heard at national and local levels we will inform, engage and influence everyone from governments and public and private sector leaders, to individuals with hearing loss and the wider population. A national voice, for us, involves: delivering the four strategic aims of Hearing Matters: New treatments for hearing loss and tinnitus Improved public health Transforming hearing services Inclusion and participation of people with hearing loss leading the sector on forming policy based on evidence. This means our research programme will be focused on informing key policy areas where we can have greatest impact, and we will engage with key decision-makers and service commissioners to raise standards across the sector using the same evidence base to campaign at local level, influencing local decision-makers, supported by volunteer campaigners across the country creating a national hearing loss discourse so hearing loss is no longer a hidden disability. Through our own efforts and through strategic partnerships we will aim to increase people s understanding of the impact of hearing loss, and get it on the public agenda. 16

17 National voice Our promises and ambitions BY 2014 We will have a hearing loss strategy for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. We will implement a national voice/local engagement strategy. We will implement our Hearing Matters influencing plan. We will have a research plan to meet the needs of this strategy. BY 2018 The government and health commissioners will view hearing loss - as they do dementia - as a critical health condition. Each of the four countries of the UK will have adopted and implemented our hearing loss strategy. There will be a UK-wide hearing screening programme for over 65s. BY 2033 People will act as soon as they recognise they have a hearing loss. Appropriate, high-quality and affordable hearing services will be available wherever you live. Government, research councils and the pharmaceutical industry will invest in biomedical research to an extent that reflects the impact of the condition. 17

18 Biomedical research As leaders in the field of hearing loss research we currently wield greater influence than our annual spend in this area might suggest. We know that people are keen for more and better solutions to hearing loss and tinnitus and that changing demographics make this an increasingly urgent area for funding. Very positively, recent breakthroughs suggest that we are on the brink of major steps forward. We must capitalise on this impetus and extend the scope of what is already proving a successful strategic direction. Over the five years of this strategy we will continue our existing strands of research and we will: grow discovery research and increase research capacity embed our Translational Research Initiative for Hearing so new treatments become available launch a new clinical fellowship programme to increase the number of ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeons and audiologists involved in research get our existing supporters and the public excited about funding hearing research work with governments and pharmaceutical companies to increase overall investment in hearing loss research earning income through our consultancy service. In an area where budgets will always constrain our ambition we will seek to increase our capacity by our own fundraising and by working in partnership wherever possible. 18

19 Biomedical research Our promises and ambitions BY 2014 We will continue to invest in funding the best science, both in the UK and overseas. We will develop our consultancy service to the pharmaceutical industry. We will raise our profile as a charity that funds vital research. BY 2018 The amount of funding going into hearing loss research will be significantly greater. Scientific advances will have been made to improve the quality of speech and music experienced with hearing aids and cochlear implants. There will be new treatments for hearing loss and tinnitus in clinical development. BY 2033 Medical devices, such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, will work as well as glasses. Medicines to prevent or slow the progression of hearing loss will be readily available and the first therapies to restore hearing loss will be available. There will be effective medical treatments to silence tinnitus. 19

20 Information provision People who access our website, use our services or read our leaflets and magazine tell us that we provide really high-quality information on hearing loss and tinnitus. Our challenge is to reach the right people at the right time through the channels that are most convenient to them. This may be detailed specialist information for politicians or clinicians, timely advice on managing hearing loss for an ageing population, employment advice for service personnel with hearing loss or any number of other situations. So our key priority, and this will be ongoing, is to really understand our audiences and meet their specific information needs. We will also need to constantly review how we deliver this information so that it reaches the right people. So delivering information will be done in two main ways: Reactively for those people who choose to make contact with us through our website, Information Line, staff or volunteers. Our membership scheme in particular offers us the opportunity to offer an exceptional level of support to people who choose to make this long-term commitment to us. Proactively by reaching out to people who need our information but don t know where to look. We will do this through our awareness raising and discourse work and, crucially, through our growing presence in local communities. We will also provide niche information as part of our influencing work within political and health and social care sectors. Providing information is one of our fundamental support functions. It serves all areas and teams who manage the channels through which we reach people. Populations change over time and our challenge will be to ensure that we closely follow trends and demographics so we continue to meet need. 20

21 Using commun support Information provision Choosing products to help with your hearing loss Our promises and ambitions BY 2014 We will begin to profile and segment our audiences so we can target our information. We will seek commercial partnerships that offer wide distribution channels. We will get information packs into audiology departments. Learning to lipread A0570 Using communication support_2.indd 1 02/10 BY 2018 We will have an Action on Hearing Loss representative in every NHS audiology department. We will be better at knowing and understanding our audiences. BY 2033 We will be the go-to organisation for anyone who needs information, support or guidance on hearing loss. Our information will reach everyone who needs it in the format and language that suits them best. A0569 Choosing products to help with hearing loss_3.indd 1 27/09/ :06 Accessing TV, entertainment and the arts A0573 Learning to lipread_2.indd 1 02/10/ :44 21

22 Fundraising Our centralised fundraising has been steady through the recession and we have maintained income through the change from RNID to Action on Hearing Loss. We aim to substantially grow our fundraised income so we can do even more as a charity. To do this we will put fundraising much more at the heart of what we do, linking in to every area of our activity and service delivery. We are making a number of key changes to how we work, including: changing the balance of our income streams. We will do this by protecting our legacy income through increased marketing activity. At the same time we will increase our investment in some existing income streams (face to face donor recruitment, for example) and testing new areas (regional community fundraising). establishing Action on Hearing Loss as a charity that the public identify with and want to support. This means we need to invest in brand development and clearly communicate our case for support. We want the public to not only be more aware of us and the work we do, but also inspired to become part of an exciting future with us. developing the processes and culture to support fundraising at Action on Hearing Loss, so raising voluntary income becomes a shared goal across all parts of the charity. This will involve putting fundraising much more at the heart of the planning process across all parts of the organisation, actively seeking opportunities to raise funds against all strands of activity and improving our reporting. using membership as a means to increase our supporter engagement. We will actively market membership to people with hearing loss, primarily on the basis of the huge amount of knowledge and support we can offer them. 22

23 Fundraising Our promises and ambitions BY 2014 We will pilot a community and legacy fundraising post at regional level. We will begin our major investment in recruiting new donors. We will install a new fundraising database. We will implement new internal processes to maximise our fundraising effectiveness. We will establish a new, cost-effective membership programme. BY 2018 We will be delivering 20m in voluntary income a year. We will have fully integrated digital fundraising into all activities, increasing this as an income stream. We will develop new income streams from our expanded services. BY 2033 The impacts of hearing loss will be well understood by the public and our role in combatting its negative effects will be known and respected. We will be a top 50 fundraising charity. We will have more and more diverse income streams so we are not over-reliant on any one area. 23

24 Commercial services Our Commercial Services Group is brand new and, for the first time, we will see commercial services directly represented on the Executive Group, helping to ensure that we are more commercially focused as an organisation, both innovative and entrepreneurial. Senior managers will base their new business plan on a number of existing inputs, including an independent review of existing business, competitor analysis and in-house reviews of our logistics and technical requirements. We have strong ambitions to substantially grow our commercial income, which will have two positive effects, to provide: profits to support our charitable activity goods and services that are of value to people with hearing loss. Our priorities will be: reviewing structures and staffing gathering marketing data and insight stopping unprofitable business stabilising existing businesses and then exploring new opportunities. 24

25 Commercial services Our promises and ambitions BY 2014 We will make profits from all our commercial activities. We will disinvest in activity streams which are unable to deliver a profit or consider whether they should become part of our charitable delivery. We will seek to cut costs in ways that will not damage our growth potential. BY 2018 We will significantly grow income and our longer-term aspirations will be based on sound market, competitor and customer insight. We will have the right organisational structure, culture and workforce to deliver our longer-term commercial objectives, and access to the systems and business insight to grow the business. We will confidently promote our charitable and fundraising activity through our business communications. BY 2033 We will provide a substantial income to support our charitable activities. We will be the provider of choice and market leader for our commercial activities. 25

26 Corporate resources Key to delivering a successful strategy is to: have highly motivated and trained staff and volunteers in the right roles be structured and organised cost-effectively to achieve our goals meet our legal and regulatory requirements. To do this we will: review all our support services to ensure they meet the needs of our internal clients while remaining cost-effective ensure we have the right culture, structure and processes in place to attract, develop and retain people with the skills and motivation to implement our strategy effectively review our reporting so that it adds value to our business planning without creating a burden embark on mergers and acquisitions where there is a strong business case lead on organisational change around measuring outcomes maintain our high standard of risk management and regulatory compliance. Our promises and ambitions BY 2014 We will review all our processes and improve or eliminate those that are not efficient. We will explore options for shared services or outsourcing. We will introduce formal feedback channels to measure our effectiveness. BY 2018 We will be delivering more light-touch, cost-effective internal services. BY 2033 We will be continually adapting and improving our services to meet the demands of the day. 26

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28 We re the charity taking action on hearing loss since We can t do this without your help. To find out more about what we do and how you can support us go to Telephone Textphone SMS (standard text message rates apply) information@hearingloss.org.uk Action on Hearing Loss is the trading name of The Royal National Institute for Deaf People. A registered charity in England and Wales (207720) and Scotland (SC038926) A0629/0213