Meet the Governors
The Governors are your representatives and are a way in which you can have a say in the development of your local hospital services. Our Governors are happy to discuss future developments or key issues facing your local hospitals. You can email each Governor direct by using the links below each of their profiles. Alternatively contact the Foundation Trust Office on 0114 2714322 who will be happy to pass your comments or message onto a Governor.
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Barbara Bell, Patient Governor – Elected 2017 Barbara was born in Macclesfield but now lives in Doncaster. She has a business and legal background. She her own business for many years, and worked as a probation officer and executive clerk to a supreme court judge. Barbara has been a patient of the Trust for many years. She suffered a breakdown of her hips which meant six hip re-building operations over two years at the Northern General Hospital, followed several years later by another breakdown of her hips which meant she had to undergo further operations over a three year period. Due to her considerable experience Barbara’s consultant at the NGH asked her to join him and other like-minded professionals in setting up and running a charity, Cavendish Fellowship in Hip Surgery. Barbara worked as Charity Controller with the Fellowship for a number of years. Since retirement and in the past three years, Barbara has undergone a further six bowel operations at NGH. During prolonged periods of hospitalisation she became aware of the complexities of running the Trust. As a patient Barbara is particularly concerned about after care and this is an area she would like to be involved in. Barbara is looking forward to being a Governor and believes it will enable her to give back to the Trust a little of what it has given to her over the years. She wants to help the Trust to continue to provide excellent care to the wider population. Prior to being elected as a governor at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Barbara had been a governor at Sheffield Health and Social Care Trust. |
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Wendy Bradley, Public Governor West Sheffield – Elected 2017 Wendy Bradley is a writer on tax and on science fiction. She grew up in Sheffield, went to Abbeydale Grange School and then to Bangor University where she studied English and Drama. After teaching drama and communications to further education students in Harlow and Stoke on Trent, she moved to London in 1985 where she trained as an Inspector of Taxes and had a twenty year career in the Inland Revenue and HMRC. Wendy was the TV critic for Interzone science fiction magazine, and took a career break in 2003 to attend the Clarion West science fiction writers’ workshop in Seattle. On her return to London she also edited and published a small scale science fiction magazine. She ended her HMRC career as Impact Assessment programme manager and now writes a tax blog, tiintax.com, about HMRC consultations. She has written for, amongst others, the Guardian Comment is Free webpage and Taxation magazine, and currently writes for the Accountingweb website on tax and HMRC. She may be found on twitter@wendybradley and writes a general blog, including occasional articles about her experiences as a governor, at wendybradley.com |
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Michelle Cook, Public Governor North Sheffield – Elected 2017 Michelle is delighted to have been elected as a governor and would like to thank everybody in North Sheffield who voted for her. Michelle is looking forward to learning how the Trust works and being involved. |
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Dr Steve Jones, Patient Governor – Elected 2017 Steve worked as a senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University between 2004 and 2017, specialising in school leadership in highly disadvantaged communities, educational policy and internationalisation. He spent much of his working life as a secondary school teacher in South Yorkshire before completing a PhD at Sheffield Hallam University. Steve also served as a member of Sheffield City Council, representing an inner city area for the Labour party, also having been council deputy leader and chair of the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority. As a governor Steve aims to utilise his lifelong personal commitment to the NHS, close knowledge of Sheffield communities, and experience of working in partnership with local organisations. He is keen that our Sheffield hospitals continue providing high quality care, innovative practice, an excellent everyday patient experience, and a close involvement with partners in our city communities. |
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Kath Parker - Patient Governor - re-elected 2015 Kath was elected as a Patient Governor in July 2012 having been a member of the Trust since 2004. In 2006 Kath retired from nursing at the Sheffield hospitals after 39 years service in the NHS.
As a Governor Kath expects to be in a position to contribute to various committees, as well as listening to patients’ views which she says are vital because without this information it is difficult to judge whether or not the Trust is on the right track. Recently she has become a member of the Patient Panel attached to the Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit and is looking forward to playing a part in this group. |
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Joyce Justice - Public Governor South East Sheffield – re-elected 2015 Joyce was elected as a Public Governor in July 2012. Joyce lived in Nottingham but moved to Sheffield four years ago. Prior to retirement she was a medical secretary to a consultant physician in a large teaching hospital where she believes she learned a lot about patient care. Joyce loved her job and the contact she had with patients and was delighted to be elected as a Governor representing South East Sheffield. She is passionate about the NHS and maintaining and improving patient care. Joyce has joined the Patient Panel of the Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit, the Committee that has an overview of the Trust’s Quality Report and has joined a group carrying out real time monitoring of patients’ views. Joyce says she is impressed with the changes that are taking place in our Sheffield hospitals in order to promote safer and better patient care. |
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Sue Taylor - Public Governor South West Sheffield - re-elected from 2016 I worked in the NHS for 40 years before I retired last year from my post at Sheffield Children’s Hospital where I was employed for nearly 20 years as Office Manager in the Paediatric Surgical Unit. I served two terms of office (6 years) as a Staff Governor at the Children’s Hospital and during that time I had the opportunity to be involved with patient surveys and care which I hope will continue in my new role at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. As a Governor I will be in a position to participate on committees concerned with the quality of patient care and also contribute to decisions on the Trust’s plans for the future and I am looking forward to being able to express to the Board the views of local Members who I represent, which hopefully will make a difference. I have a keen interest in helping patients and making sure that a high quality service of care and safety is available for all users of our local hospitals. |
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Sally Craig - Public Governor Sheffield South West - re-elected 2017 Sally was elected as a Public Governor for South West Sheffield in 2014. She feels very privileged to have been elected and will endeavour to work towards helping to make the patient experience a better journey in the Trust. Sally’s involvement with the NHS over 30 years as a dental practitioner, both within and outside the hospital environment, has made her aware of the complexity of the Trust and how budget constraints have to be weighed against the demand for services as effectively as possible at this challenging time for health care services both for provider and user. Having experienced the service from both perspectives Sally believes that good communication from all involved is essential and positive usage of electronic resources can complement the process. |
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Enid was born in Keighley, Yorkshire shortly after the birth of the NHS. After having her family of three daughters she worked as a Nursing Auxiliary as her family grew up. Later, after a few years in retail management, she went to work for a large Fundholding General Practice in South Wales before returning to her beloved Yorkshire. Living in Sheffield she was delighted to secure a job at the then Northern General Hospital in the Clinical Audit Department. Clinical Audit, or Clinical Effectiveness as it is called today measures NHS clinical practice against evidence based standards, and throughout her time in the department she guided and assisted healthcare professionals at all levels in doing this. Enid believes that achieving standards and making changes if needed will make things better for all. Enid has also been a patient of the NHS a few times, more recently in 2017 and as a governor feel s that this will allow her to relate to patients. She retired from working for the Trust in October 2016 after 19 happy years and is proud and honoured to have been elected as a governor and is looking forward to her term in office. |
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Lewis Noble, Public Governor, West Sheffield - elected 2015 Originally from the West Country Lewis trained in Sheffield as a social worker and has spent almost all his adult life here. He worked at the Spinal Injuries Centre at Lodge Moor and latterly at the Northern General Hospital. Lewis retired from full-time work in 2006 and then worked part-time as a consultant to a spinal cord injury care provider, visiting hospitals and spinal cord injured people throughout England and Wales. As a new Governor, Lewis says it is difficult to predict the role he can most usefully play – he is still getting to grips with the structures and processes involved. In view of his work and personal experience he is interested in issues such as discharge planning and the interface between care inside and outside hospital. He has also always been interested in issues around medical ethics. He is looking forward to making a contribution. |
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Spencer Pitfield, Public Governor, South West Sheffield, elected 2015 A professional musician, Spencer has lived and worked in Africa and Europe. He undertook his PhD in British Clarinet Music at the University of Sheffield and taught music at Purcell School of Music in London and now leads the instrumental department at Birkdale School in Sheffield, he is also Director of the Sheffield School of Rock and Pop. Spencer is the Conservative Party’s spokesman for Sheffield and South Yorkshire. He believes that the Trust plays a crucial role in peoples’ lives in Sheffield and the wider community and as a governor Spencer says he wants to champion the very highest levels of care for all patients and their families and will focus on privacy and dignity and cleanliness standards. |
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Ian Merriman, Public Governor, South East Sheffield, elected 2015 Ian has lived in Sheffield all his life. After serving his apprenticeship as a toolmaker he progressed to become manager of the computer controlled machine section then moved on to become technical and service director of a materials handling company in Manchester and prior to retirement he was quality manager at a company in Huddersfield. Since retiring Ian has been involved in voluntary work visiting patients prior to surgery on the Chesterman Wards at NGH, is also a member of the Sheffield Open Heart Club (SHOC) and is involved with the Stroke Unit at RHH talking about his experiences as a carer of a stroke victim. Ian is also involved in stroke research (Aphasia) jointly with the NHS and the University of Sheffield. Ian believes that his experiences as a former patient on the heart unit at NGH and as a carer will help in his new role as a governor. |
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Mick Ashman, Public Governor, North – elected 2016 Mick came to Sheffield from London over 30 years ago to train as a nurse. He developed a strong affection for Sheffield and stayed in South Yorkshire. On qualifying Mick worked as a staff nurse at the Northern General Hospital and now teaches at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Sheffield. Throughout his time in Sheffield he has lived in the north east of the city, in Fir Vale and Pitsmoor, and is pleased to have been elected as a Governor to represent an area of Sheffield that he feels very attached to and is looking forward to represent users of the NHS in the north of Sheffield. Mick believes that effective governance is important in any organisation, particularly those that deliver healthcare. He considers that his experience and skills will ensure he is effective as a Governor. |
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Jennifer Booth, Patient Governor – elected 2016 Jennifer regards it as an honour and a privilege to have been elected as a Patient Governor and thanks all those who voted for her. She is a retired secondary school teacher, having taught religious education for many years. Since retiring she has looked after mother Jennifer would like all patients to feel respected, welcome and valued and happy with their treatments and visitors to be treated with |
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Peter Hewkin, Patient Governor – elected 2016 Peter was born and lives in Worksop; he has been a patient at 3 of the Trust’s hospitals and is looking forward to his first term of office as a governor. He is keen to engage with issues of end-of-life care and dementia treatment and has joined the Trust’s Dementia Research Patient and Public Involvement Group Peter has experience working on committees and believes he has strong communication skills (RAF officer and physics teacher) but most crucially he has experience as a relative of a hospital patient and as a patient himself. He hopes to put more back into the hospitals which have treated him very well and he is also keen to encourage Trust Members’ participation in the various events proffered by the Trust. |
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Martin Hodgson, Public Governor West – elected 2016 Martin is pleased to have been elected to represent Members in West Sheffield and hopes to serve them well. He has a background in senior management of a national public sector organisation, which he believes assists him in his role as a Governor of a large and important NHS Foundation Trust. Originally from Bradford but now living in Hangingwater, he spent almost 35 years in the Inland Revenue where in his role as a regional director he quickly learned that if as a leader you concentrate too much on processes and targets you are in danger of overlooking the most important ingredient of the mix – the people. He has been appointed as a member of the Council of Governors’ Nominations and Remuneration Committee and is involved in oversight of its Quality Report work. He has also worked on reviewing the role and conduct of governors. Martin believes he still has a lot to learn about the Trust and the wider NHS and approaches that task with enthusiasm. |
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Nev Wheeler, Public Governor South East – elected 2016 Prior to being elected as a Governor at STH Nev had been a Governor with Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS FT for 9 years (the maximum time allowed) and he is now looking forward to his new role. Nev is keen to find out all he can about the Trust where he has been a patient on many occasions and received excellent care. Before retiring Nev spent a lifetime in education having been a head teacher in 3 schools. He also has a life-long involvement in sport and, having previously managed a semi-professional football club for many years, he is well aware of the value of teamwork which he says is not confined to sports teams but all walks of life where people are working together towards a common goal. By helping to develop teamwork among Governors and Trust Members I believe that much can be achieved. |
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Harold Sharpe – Patient Governor elected 2016 Harold originates from Barrow-in-Furness but currently lives in the Derbyshire Dales. He has been a patient for a few years at the Spinal Injuries Unit at the Northern General Hospital where he has received consistently good care and treatment. He worked for the NHS in Cumbria for thirteen years, before moving to Derbyshire in 1986 to work for Derbyshire County Council. He retired from Local Government in 2014. He was appointed a Magistrate in 2006 and sits in the Adult Court in Derby, dealing with the full range or adult criminal work. He is a serving member of the Probation Liaison Committee. Harold was born with Athetoid Cerebral Palsy and therefore has been involved in the NHS for all his life and as a Governor is pleased to have the opportunity to give something back. Harold is interested in working with the Trust to maintain its reputation for delivering good clinic outcomes and has a particular interest in perinatal health, patient engagement and efficient resource and financial management. |
STAFF GOVERNORS |
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Dylan Caffell – Management, Admin and Clerical – elected 2015 |
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Cath Hemingway – Primary and Community Services - elected 2015 |
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Irene Mabbott – Nursing and Midwifery – elected 2015 |
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Cressida Ridge – Governor for Ancillary Works and Maintenance Staff – Elected 2017 |
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Karen Smith – Governor for Allied Health Professionals, Scientists and Technicians – Elected 2017 |
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John West – Doctors and Dentists – elected 2015 |
Appointed Governors
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Professor Luc de Witte - Appointed Governor representing the University of Sheffield (from November 2017) Luc is a professor of Health Services Research in the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) at the University of Sheffield. His research is on healthcare innovations using technology, with a focus on long term care. He moved from the Netherlands to Sheffield in October 2016. In the Netherlands he was director of a large innovation network with about 35 partners in health and social care, industry and academia. In Sheffield he works in the Centre for Assistive Technology and Connected Healthcare, trying to contribute to building an innovation ecosystem here as well. Alongside his work in Sheffield and the Netherlands he directs a research and education programme in India called ‘Health in Slums’. Luc is a member of the board of governors of a large elderly care organisation with 25 locations in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. There his focus is on care quality and safety. Luc is a father of six and is happily married with Charlotte, who is a psychologist. |
