Meet our Governors

Until September 2022, I was a Staff Governor, at Gateshead Health, representing not only staff but also members of the public. I would like to continue representing the people of Gateshead, as a Public Governor. I have over 50 years experience working as a Registered Nurse, within the NHS, and also with Social Care ,working for Gateshead Council, as a manager within residential care. I have also worked for the Care Quality Commission as a Clinical and Professional Adviser, assisting with inspections of care and nursing homes. My most recent work role was that of Operational Site Manager, with the Covid 19 vaccination service, ensuring that the population of Gateshead are kept safe. I am also a Volunteer at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, working as a Response Volunteer, and also a member of the PLACE team, which ensure that high standards are maintained within the hospital, which enhances patient care. As staff governor, I have been able to raise questions about important aspects of the trusts operations and staff and public concerns. I believe that I can continue to contribute more, given the opportunity to work with the trust to improve the high standards of quality care that the trust already delivers, and represent the people of Gateshead. I am committed that the people of Gateshead receive the best NHS care possible.

I am a recently retired teacher and headteacher in special education and I am keen to use my knowledge, skills and enthusiasm to develop and support other areas of public service. I have experience of governance systems for schools and for an FE College which would be of benefit in this role. As a member of the local community, I have a personal commitment to my local hospital and to the NHS in general. I have a particular interest in ensuring access to generic services for children and adults with learning diffculties and disabilities and particular skills in this area.

After retiring in 2010, I commenced volunteering at the Queen Elizabeth hospital where I have worked in the Outpatients Department and currently work in the Chemotherapy Day Unit. I have previously served a 3 year term as a Public Governor which included 18 months as Lead Governor; following this I served as a Staff/Volunteer Governor from January 2020 to June 2021. During my time as a Governor, I was active on numerous committees and continue to do so as a patient representative. I feel that my previous experience as a Governor together with my communication and organisational skills would enable me to make a valuable contribution to the Council of Governors and help facilitate the Trust’s aims for the best possible patient services. I would therefore welcome this opportunity to utilise the knowledge and experience I have gained previously and serve a further term as a Public Governor for Gateshead Central.

As a volunteer in a number of local charities as well as being a Patient Advocate at The DASH Group – a local Patient Support & Advocacy Group – and having recently been an inpatient at the QE Hospital, I am familiar with the workings of hospitals both as a patient and as a patient support. I will use the position of Governor, in addition to my existing experience, to better ensure that EVERY patient receives the best level of care EVERY time.

Living in Gateshead all my life, I have in the past had need of hospital care for both family and myself and always experienced a high standard of care. Now recently retired, I would welcome the opportunity to give something back. Through working in administration, I have an understanding of many business aspects and have a common sense approach to life. I also have a strong empathy with people and believe these strengths together will enable me to fulfil a worthwhile position within the trust to the benefit of staff and patients alike.

I was previously a Governor in 2023 for my first one year term I decided not to put myself up for election in 2024 due to the birth of my first child. Unfortunately at the start of this year I became extremely unwell with Guillian Barre Syndrome. During the course of this syndrome I became a NHS patient for 3 months so I feel I have now seen both sides of the NHS. To remind everyone I have been an NHS hospital pharmacist for 10 years which has given me a detailed understanding of the NHS. Now as a previous patient, a new dad and an NHS employee I feel I have the skills to represent more of the people of Gateshead than I did before

My background includes being a teacher of the deaf, a listening volunteer at Tyneside Samaritans and currently work as a volunteer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. As a Gateshead resident for 40 plus years, I and close family members have been treated as inpatients and outpatients at the hospital, most recently during Covid when I had first hand experience of hospital treatment. As a volunteer at the hospital, I come into close contact with patients. I am the patient representative in a team which assesses wards and clinics on a weekly basis. My role is to ask patients their views of their hospital experience and ensure that that these are fed back to hospital staff. I would feel privileged to be a governor and would approach the role professionally with enthusiasm and 100% commitment. I am willing to undertake the necessary training and I feel I have the confidence and sound judgement to challenge constructively when necessary.

I care very much about our local health services. I have lived in the Gateshead area and worked in legal services for 30 years. I would like to contribute to the Council of Governors’ inquisitive and balanced thinking. Also, my aim is to communicate with local people – collecting their opinions and helping our communities to have a say in trust decisions and its future. My priorities will be on how our trust is supervised, responds to the needs of individuals and delivers within restricted budgets. Most of all I want to enhance our trust’s performance. I hope to be alert to the many whose voice matters. I believe patients, carers and those who work in and serve our Trust, deserve Governors who will undertake their duties responsibly and with care.

As a newly appointed Public Govenor representing the Western Constituency my remit is to ensure that your interests and views are conveyed to the Trust and keep you informed of their performance. My business background was within the Building Industry as a Senior Contracts Manager and for some years the Managing Director of my family owned Building Services company. I have lived in Whickham for over 50 years, am married with two grown up children and four grandchildren. Since retiring I have had personal experience of patient care in both Cardiac and Urology departments. I will actively strive to improved the Trusts performance and to encourage recruitment from within my Constituency at all levels of the organisation.

NHS is facing unprecedented challenges on all fronts with increasing risk to patients. Social care is struggling to fulfil the demands and expectations. The Gateshead Health NHS FT is among the many trying hard to cope with maintaining safety and quality. Most my forty years of NHS work has been in providing acute care in the largest northern teaching hospital. After retirement, my voluntary work is in Citizens Advice, Torture Care and Royal Medical Benevolent Fund. Being a Board Member of Healthwatch, and using the experiences and perspectives of patients, service users, families and carers I know how to influence provision and development of health and care services. I have served as Governor of three FTs. I am familiar with systems and processes. I have the experience, skill, enthusiasm, and time to effectively represent experiences and views of members and public to contribute to good governance.

My name is Helen Adams. I am a Staff Nurse in the Trust. I have worked for the Trust since 2004 and worked on various Wards, I currently work in the Occupational Health Department. I live in Gateshead reinforcing my interest in the Trust and the community and staff it supports. I am passionate about public health both for patients and staff and have a particular interest in smoking cessation and how this can vastly improve the health of both patients and staff as discussed in the NHS Peoples Plan. I believe I would be an excellent addition to the council of governors as a Staff Governor. I always strive to be an advocate ensuring the views of patients and staff are listened to, in doing so I aim to improve services for the Trust not only now but also in the future.

I have worked as a pharmacist in the Trust for the past 15 years. I care passionately about both patients and staff in the organisation, and am proud of the way that staff working here describe the feeling of being part of a family. I am committed to providing the best possible experience for our patients and the Gateshead community and always seek to improve and develop the services that we offer. I work well as part of a team and enjoy building relationships across the MDT using my strong communication skills. I thrive in challenging situations and would like to support the Trust through the difficult times currently facing the NHS.

I joined the trust in July 2020 after 3 years at JCUH Middlesbrough and my front line experience means I really do understand the current unprecedented pressures that Covid has placed on us all. The fact we have managed to more than survive is ultimately down to the reasons I enjoy working here namely incredible teamwork, camaraderie and people repeatedly going above and beyond for each other and our patients. Yet existing problems must also be acknowledged if we wish to solve them including staffing shortages especially amongst the nursing staff and their frequent redeployment. Effective communication and collaboration between the front line and the trust board will be of paramount importance in navigating a challenging winter and beyond. I promise to act as an advocate for staff colleagues and ensure that concerns raised in the changing and coffee rooms mirror those in the boardroom.

As an internationally trained nurse with 5 years of experience working in the UK, I have had the opportunity to work on the wards and serve as a professional nurse advocate in the Trust. Currently, I work as a practice development nurse in the international recruitment team with the aim of preparing the IEN for the wards and nursing in the UK. I am passionate about the welfare of staff and believe that maintaining an inclusive and diverse environment positively enhances patient care. I am also approachable and value effective communication. If elected, I would be honoured to represent the staff, keep staff informed of work undertaken by the Council of Governors, and seek their views. Additionally, I would communicate staff feedback to the Council of Governors on how decisions impact them.

I joined the Trust as a Consultant in Trauma and Orthopaedics just over 6 years ago, having completed training in the North East followed by Sheffield and awarded travelling scholarships in North America. I felt welcomed into the Trust and wider community when I first started and continue to be impressed by the dedication and friendly nature of the staff at QE Hospital. I work within a multidisciplinary team and have a close working relationship with ward based, theatre and non-clinical staff within the Trust. I have been the orthopaedic lead for hip fracture care at Gateshead for last 5 years. Following a positive and inclusive team work attitude helped the implementation of several quality improvement projects, with the unit now recognised nationally for consistently being in the top five Trusts in the country for following best practice in hip fracture care. I believe that high staff morale is needed for having a pleasant workplace, which helps everyone reach full potential and thereby provide good patient care. My enthusiasm to gather feedback from colleagues at all levels puts me in a good position to represent your views. I would strive to represent staff views within the council of Governors and champion ICORE values of the Trust. Having worked in the Trust as a senior clinician, I not afraid to speak up and be heard when needed. I value positive and good communication across hospital teams. I am approachable, enthusiastic about change and committed to effectively represent staff views.

With 36 years nursing experience in the NHS, I hope to be able to act as a voice for both patients and their carers. Patient and public involvement is vital for healthcare and I believe that co-production can help to develop high quality effective services. I am passionate about quality improvement in order to make healthcare services the best they can be. Sustainability is a key priority and the Covid-19 pandemic has shown the potential for providing services in different ways with the rapid acceleration of the digital transformation of healthcare, bringing the opportunity to build on this to offer a range of options for care going forwards. This is an exciting time with the focus on system wide working and I am keen to play a part for the benefit of the local population.