Hospital visit pack
We have provided a suite of materials to support arrangements, messaging, communication, and promotion of the visit. This includes:
Template letter to invite local parliamentarians to visit the hospital, which explains the relevance of liver disease as a local and national issue.
Local press release template which can be shared with local media contacts and the politician’s team to promote the parliamentary visit. This can be amended and circulated by the hospital communications team.
1 page key messages document for hospital staff to ensure consistency on high level messaging about liver disease.
2 page briefing for parliamentarians setting out a high level overview of policy priorities, which politicians can take away as a resource at the end of the visit.
Suggested social media posts for both the hospital and parliamentarians to promote the parliamentary visit, to accompany any official photographs from the day.
Policy briefings a selection of the latest thematic policy briefings produced by the British Liver Trust which can be shared on request. Please email publicaffairs@britishlivertrust.org.uk.
Organising a visit
Approvals process for hosting a parliamentary visit
Its important to check your hospital’s internal processes for arranging a visit to ensure appropriate approvals are secured. This might include coordinating closely with colleagues in the Unit and obtaining sign off from the Chief Executive’s Office. Please also liaise with the hospital communication team for support in promoting the visit in local press and social media and making arrangements for photo opportunities.
Inviting your local parliamentarian
Follow the links to find your local politicians: MP here, MSP here, MLA here, and MS here.
We recommend you check whether the hospital catchment area includes more that one constituency, as you may wish to invite multiple politicians.
Update the template invite provided by the British Liver Trust to include the name of your local parliamentarian. Politicians will be interested in your experiences as a local clinician and local data that shows how liver disease affects their constituents. Local data can be found at:
- The Office of Heath Improvements and Disparities (OHID) publishes local, regional and national statistics (hospital admissions, premature deaths, NAFLD, alcohol related liver disease) on FingerTips (England only).
- The Scottish Public Health Observatory publishes chronic liver disease data, including comparing data on mortality and hospital stay across the different health boards.
- The Welsh Government published the Quality Statement for Liver Disease in November 2022. The Quality Statement describes what good quality liver disease services should look like.
- If you need help locating your local data, please feel free to contact us at publicaffairs@britishlivertrust.org.uk
Send the letter inviting your local parliamentarian(s) and liaise with their team to find a suitable date for the visit of the hospital liver unit to take place.
- If arranging a visit during the pre-election period ensure you follow NHS guidance.
If you are planning to arrange for local politicians to visit your liver unit please contact: publicaffairs@britishlivertrust.org.uk
Please do let us know if you have an upcoming visit arranged!