Redcar and Cleveland constituency

I am passionate about serving the communities around me, and in my career, have had the privilege of extensive exposure to public, private and voluntary sector organisations, including various management committee roles.

As a service user of the trust for many years, I have always valued the care and treatment provided to
me.

I am able to easily build rapport and trust with people, to provide an important link between hospitals and the local community.

I pride myself on my integrity and commitment to making a positive contribution to people’s lives and local communities. I am also an advocate for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.

My skills and experience of having worked in private businesses, local authorities, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, NHS England, and more recently, as an interpreter, will prove beneficial to the role of governor.

I have many reasons for wanting to join Council of Governors, mainly because of all the great treatment I have had in this hospital over the years from cancer, chemo, heart surgery and follow on treatment.

Now this role as a governor will give me the chance to repay in anyway I can.

Eleven years ago I was diagnosed with cancer and was treated at The James Cook University Hospital. As a result of these experiences I became involved in the Patient and Carers Group taking a great interest, along with many others, in trying to ensure that patient voices were heard and the high standards of care I received were maintained and improved. I became part of the peer review process at the hospital, ensuring cancer services were meeting nationally agreed standards, giving me a valuable insight into the variety of problems facing clinicians.

I became a patient representative on the project board for the design and build of the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Cancer Centre at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton. This has allowed me to work closely with Macmillan, the trust and patients and carers to secure a centre that provides the best treatment options in the most comfortable environment. I am a patient representative on both the haematology and colorectal expert advisory groups.

I served as a police officer with Cleveland Constabulary for 30 years until retirement in 2012. I am married with two adult sons and have lived locally since 1972.

I retired from Shell UK in 2016, my final post as Offshore Installation Manager, responsible for health safety and environment compliance, staff development, operations, maintenance and construction delivery.

I currently I have two volunteer roles within the trust. I spent four years as a therapeutic care volunteer at The James Cook University Hospital and have volunteered in several locations. At present, I am a wayfinder, greeting visitors and patients who need help finding their way around. Chatting to patients and carers helps me understand how they feel about our hospital and hopefully I can make their visit start well.

I have spent 11 years as a Blood Biker (Blood Run EVS) and have had many roles within this charity. Currently I courier blood products and samples overnight between the Friarage Hospital and James Cook pathology laboratory.

These roles are enormously rewarding and interesting. They give me the opportunity to interact with patients and staff and provide a small insight into out of hours activities and behind the scenes aspects of the trust.