Governors

Sally Light

City of York

Sally’s connection to the Trust dates back to 2001 when she worked with York and Scarborough hospitals on improving access to outpatient services.  Sally is currently the Chief Executive of the MND Association, a charity and membership organisation serving people living with motor neurone disease.

In addition to the charity sector, Sally has 25 years clinical and managerial experience in the NHS including serving on the Board of Barnsley Hospital Trust.  Most of her NHS career was spent working with clinical teams to improve patient experience and the way services were delivered.

Rukmal Abeysekera

City of York

Rukmal is passionate about equality, diversity and equal healthcare for all.

Working with colleagues her aim would be to help improve confidence in NHS provision across society as well as in specific communities.

Alongside partners, she would seek to help enhance and extend communications so that all communities served by the Trust feel confident in the care provided.

Contact: rukmal.abeysekera@nhs.net 

Michael Reakes

City of York

Michael brings a unique global experience of healthcare services, having lived, worked and received medical treatment in the UK, USA, and Middle East.  His career has focused on the development of e-learning and training technology to improve job performance and safety, including projects in the medical field.  He has managed large projects, budgets, and supervised multidisciplinary professionals from a variety of nationalities.

Michael has good leadership, listening and communication skills, and a record of creative, cost-effective solutions. He can see the big picture and both sides of an issue. Michael states he is detail-oriented, organised and motivated and has led community organisations, and has experience of focus groups and feedback surveys.

Through his expereince, Michael is confident that he can effectively represent members of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, hold the non-executive directors to account, and help guide the development and delivery of safe, cost-effective, and sustainable healthcare in York.

Contact: michael.reakes@nhs.net

Beth Dale

City of York

Beth is a retired nurse with over 44 years experience of hands-on caring from working in York Hospital the week it opened to looking after her husband until his death in 2017.  Her father was a hospital administrator in York for many years and she has first-hand insight as to how the various roles of hospital staff all ultimately work to the same conclusion.

She was born and bred in York, attending Queen Ann Grammar School until 1973.  Then continuing to Claypenny hospital to train as a nurse specialising in genetics and special needs.  She is an active volunteer member of various health charities and a serving member of the York Sight Loss Council.

Over the years she has served as a Parish Councillor and School Governor locally before enjoying her years as a volunteer advocate.  She is registered disabled with mobility issues, hearing and sight loss.  She has a special interest in medicine and care relating to all disabilities plus all services relating to the elderly.  She believes passionately that the NHS has the best care in the world and considers it an honour to be part of that process.

Contact: beth.dale@nhs.net

Mary Clark

City of York

Mary has worked in the NHS in York, at the County and City Hospitals, and then in the York Hospital for 44 years, attaining the role of Sister 12 years before retiring in 2014. She has always had a keen interest in the running of the hospital and volunteered in the Covid Hub during the vaccination program and still volunteer today in the distribution of the PPE to the wards.

She would like to be a part, and have some say in how the hospital is run today, and perhaps to help forward ideas to improve the patients journey and treatment . How money could be spent wisely and how waste can be managed to prevent overspending in certain areas, and see that staff are well supported and deployed correctly in consideration of their skills.

Bernard Chalk

East Coast of Yorkshire

Bernard has had over 40 years' experience of working in the NHS at provider and commissioner organisations and for a large proportion of that he was a Board level Director.  During this time he gained a significant understanding of the need to deliver services that meet local needs and integrate with primary care services, social care and the voluntary sector.

He believes that he has the skills to constructively challenge the non-executive directors, individually and collectively, to account for the performance of the Board of Directors and to clearly represent the views of the members of the Trust.

He is committed to ensuring that the population of the East Coast continues to be robustly represented on the Council of Governors and that their voices are heard when decisions are being made regarding any service reconfiguration and the impact on the local population.

Maria Ibbotson

East Coast of Yorkshire

Maria was born in Bridlington District Hospital, and although she moved all around Yorkshire for her career in Project Management, she is back in East Yorkshire to stay. She is an active member of Bridlington Health Forum, who aim to protect, restore, improve and extend the provision of NHS services in the area. Having 1300+ Facebook followers on the page along with regular face to face meetings it is often heart wrenching to listen to the brave testimonies from local residents and very difficult to not want to help more and this is my key motivation. The Forum is where she heard about the amazing opportunity for Governors and it is also a great Forum to be involved in to better understand and learn what local residents feel about the Trust, and the services offered. Both what is going well and what isn’t is all captured so that we can help others develop and grow services with patients and their families at the heart of them.

As a mother, daughter, sister and friend she is choosing to be a voice for others who have been courageous enough to share their feedback. Communities needs to be heard, the Trust to be held to account and align their priorities to the biggest needs. 

Keith Dobbie

East Coast of Yorkshire

Keith believes that the role of the governor is a very important part of the trust management that requires a proactive attitude.  His prime interest would be to promote 'good news' from the Trust to advance confidence for both staff and the public at large.  His other pillar of action would be to ensure facilities were available to those who are suffering infirmity or disease difficulties.

He is aware of the increasing pressure from government to continue improvement and the hard place it gives staff to fulfil their ever changing roles.  His position, as governor, is to give maximum support to staff in achieving Trust goals.

His career in business management gives him the knowledge and skills to succeed in the governor role.

Linda Wild

East Coast of Yorkshire

The NHS is facing some of the hardest times in its history. The affect of this challenge is impacting on all of our hospital services. Linda  would like the opportunity to work with the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as a voice of service users and the wider community for the East Coast of Yorkshire, to be a voice to the service providers so that change and review of services can happen if it is necessary. Particularly, the key issues now facing this Trust. She believes it is very important that the Trust management listen and respond to the input from patients and the wider community.

As a patient herself of the Trust she has experienced very good care and sometimes not so good. She is keen to influence and contribute to our local health services to make a difference. She thinks it is very important to have non executive directors with the right skills for the board, She would welcome being involved in the recruitment and accountability of these directors. She has experience in the past of working closely with another Hospital Trust for several years and also has experience of working in a hospital. She is keen to see change happen for us all. She works in the community with different groups and has currently been elected to the position of Town Mayor. 

Colin Hill

East Coast of Yorkshire

Colin was born and raised in Bridlington, leaving only for school and University. He returned to the town in 1983 to run two separate companies and is now semi-retired.

He knows the area and would like to spend some of his time trying to give something back. He has a keen interest in the NHS, its progress, problems and challenges and would very much like to be actively involved in the local trust.

Catherine Thompson

Hambleton District

Catherine lives in Sutton on the Forest in the South of Hambleton District with her husband and young son, and has lived there since 2009 when she moved from York. Catherine worked as a physiotherapist at York Hospital for over 10 years, before leaving in 2008 to teach physiotherapy and other health related subjects at York St John University. She now works in healthcare management at NHS England, based in Leeds, and her role is to improve patient and carer experience of health services across England.

Catherine takes a keen interest in the health services that are provided locally, and would like to be a Governor for York Hospital so that she can influence and support the services to be the best that they can be for the people in this area. In her work she has the privilege of visiting hospitals and healthcare staff across England. She gets to see many different ways of delivering care and supporting patients, and sees what is possible and what can be achieved. She is used to working alongside hospital managers, patients,

carers, and patient organisations and so she feels comfortable challenging and asking questions of others to ensure that decisions are made in the interests of patients.

Alastair Falconer

Ryedale & East Yorkshire

Alistair has worked in the NHS for 35 years as a Consultant Paediatrician at Scarborough, Malton and Whitby hospitals from 1991 to 2014.  He was also an Associate Director of Clinical Studies at Hull York Medical School until 2016.  He has experience of how the NHS works and the challenges facing our community in achieving safe and equitable care, including access to transport and provision of adequately staffed and resourced services. 

As a consultant he has had first hand experience of the difficulties faced in providing safe accessible care in a remote, often under resourced, setting and also how improvements were achieved by clearly identifying those needs and addressing them with local and regional providers.  He will strive to achieve effective communication with the public ensuring that the communities needs are represented at the Trust Board.   

Previously, Alistair lived in the Scarborough area but now lives in Barton le Willows.  He is very committed to representing the Ryedale & East Yorkshire constituency.

Sue Smith

Ryedale & East Yorkshire

Sue retired to Norton from Cambridgeshire 5 years ago.  She has thoroughly enjoyed getting to know new people in such a diverse rural area.  She has a background in retailing and 20 years experience as a Human Resources Manager.  On taking a career break she was appointed as Chair of Huntingdon Community Health Council providing feedback on local health services.  Subsequently, she was appointed as a Non Executive Director of Hinchingbrooke Healthcare NHS Trust.  She held the post of Chair for more than 10 years.  She has also been a stakeholder Governor at Addenbrookes University Hospital and therefore has some understanding of the relationship between the Council of Governors and the Board.  

She is passionate about access to services in remote locations and exploring innovation in healthcare delivery for the benefit of patients. 

Vacancy

Ryedale & East Yorkshire

Andrew Stephenson

Selby

Andrew has lived in Sherburn in Elmet for 29 years, and for much of that period has worked for the NHS, both within the Primary Care Trust and more recently within a CCG. He has also been a member of the Trust since it was created, taking a keen interest in the role of our hospitals in the daily lives of people who use them. During this period he has had cause to use both York and Selby Hospitals as a patient, and there is nothing better than knowing that they are there when needed. Having now retired from the NHS he would like to continue to support and influence the way in which hospitals and the NHS can support the health of people both in hospitals and in communities.

As an NHS commissioner he was able to ensure that services met the needs of people by engaging in consultation with people who might use the services, and using that information to influence decisions. He would now like to continue to provide that support to the NHS as a Trust member, Selby Governor, member of his community, carer and as a patient. He is also a keen painter and gardener, spending much of his time growing fruit and vegetables, and enjoying the community of food growers at the local allotments.

Wendy Loveday

Selby

Wendy wanted to become a Governor to be a voice for patients and carers to ensure that the Trust is constantly striving to fulfil the needs of the people in Selby. She has lived and experienced York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals’ services for almost 40 years. She has had both positive and negative experiences within our NHS which have all helped shape the desire she has to put a little back into a service that she, her family and friends have relied upon their whole lives.

As a Fleetways driver, she works every day closely with the hospitals on the YAS and multiple other hospital contracts transporting patients, staff, samples, bloods, notes, etc. This has given her years of insight into the workings of many different wards, departments and elements of most of the hospitals from a different vantage point. To make room, she stepped down from her seven year role as Chair of the York Private Hire Association where she successfully and voluntarily represented 800 drivers. She believes that demonstrates the skills she has to ensure that voices are heard. She believes in positive changes, to hold Directors to account, and that a fair balance and a bridge between Directors and service users is essential. She believes in working together and believes in the NHS.

Cllr Liz Colling

North Yorkshire County Council

Liz was born and bred in Scarborough, and after a career in pharmacy and business she moved back to the area in 2010 to enjoy her semi-retirement and be close to family.

She has been a Borough Councillor since 2015, and North Yorkshire County Councillor since 2017, being elected to represent Falsgrave and Stepney in Scarborough.

Liz is passionate about improving social mobility and addressing health inequalities on the coast and currently serves on the Borough's cabinet where she has responsibility for Regeneration and is Vice Chair of Scrutiny of Health at North Yorkshire County Council

When not engaged in council duties, Liz enjoys growing her own vegetables, keeping generally active and busy, as well as travel, especially visiting her son who lives abroad.

Gerry Richardson

University of York

Dr Gerry Richardson is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Health Economics (CHE) at the University of York in the UK. CHE has a leading international reputation, and is one of the world’s largest health economics research centres. 

Gerry has over 20 years’ experience as a health economist concentrating on applied and methodological issues in cost-effectiveness analysis. 

Topics of interest  include optimal skill mix for health professionals, the cost-effectiveness of self-management interventions, and the cost-effectiveness of childhood and parenting interventions. 

Recently he has led public health evaluations that involve decision making across sectors (primarily health and education) and over time. 

Dawn Clements

Hospice Movement

Dawn has come on board as an appointed governor representing the hospice movement, specifically St Leonards Hospice in York, and St Catherine’s in Scarborough as the Trust felt it important that End of Life care is represented at governor level.

Dawn is currently Director Of Fundraising at St Leonards Hospice in York, and so has direct experience of the service provided by this sector within the area.  Dawn has been working in the charity sector for 3 years, prior to this she help a number of senior roles at ASDA Head office in Leeds covering both community, brand management and customer experience, and so brings a wealth of experience in these areas acquired in a commercial business environment, as well as operating within a lowest cost to operate environment.

Dawn has held trustee roles in charities, and is an active Dementia Champion – having created 400 Dementia Friends over the last 2 years. Dawn stated that she ‘wanted to do this role for a number of reasons, she lives in York and is a regular user of the services at York District Hospital.  It will also give a deeper insight into how the CCG, NHS and the wider system works together, and hopefully her experience in the private sector will add value as she can bring both a different view and approach to areas such as patient experience, membership etc.  Dawn has said that ‘It is so important that the end of life experience in York and surrounding areas is the best it can be and she wants to be part in making sure that happens’

Paul Johnson

York

Paul  has worked over 7 years for York & Scarborough Teaching Hospital Trust and has gained valuable experience in this. Having spent 16 years in the Armed Forces he has been to all parts of the world and experienced a lot of different diverse cultures and people. He then spent 5 years working throughout the country on construction projects, mainly in healthcare.  He has also worked as a staff member at the University of York, prior to working at York Hospital.

As Assistant Head of Estates he is already involved in interactions between many different stakeholders, internal and externally.  His current role within Facilities Management offers a unique opportunity of working and interfacing with our other stakeholder partners, such as the City of York Council, University of York, York Against Cancer and others.

Following the Trust values, he has always strived to place the needs of the patients at the heart of everything we do.

He believes that given his skillset and experience, he will be a fully active and inclusive member of the Council in representing the staff at York.

Julie Southwell

York

Julie has worked for the Trust for over 20 years in a variety of roles, currently as Recruitment Manager. She believes passionately in preserving the NHS, and especially York & Scarborough NHSFT, as a force for improving the life and well-being of our community.  She is particularly keen to help ensure that the Trust continues to focus on balancing the competing priorities and challenges it faces today, and in the future, whilst safeguarding its principal purpose of providing high quality health care to our community.

Over the years her and her family  have had cause to use the services of the Trust on a number of occasions, and she has seen first-hand how the high quality of care given by our staff makes such a difference to both patients and their families.

She wants to ensure the Trust continues to provide the best quality care for our patients and the best environment for our staff. In her role as Recruitment Manager she understands the challenges faced by the Trust in staffing our hospitals safely and appropriately and want to work with you and the Board to overcome these challenges. I want to be a governor because I strongly believe that it is important that the expertise of the Board of Directors is balanced with the opinions of the main users of the services; you, her, the local community and surrounding neighbourhoods who depend upon it, and as a staff governor she wants the views of you, the staff, to be heard.

Contact: julie.southwell@york.nhs.uk

Abbi Denyer

York

I welcome the opportunity to represent the views of my fellow colleagues because I believe that we can forge more meaningful links through the sharing of staff views and experiences, which is one of the key ways of improving and implementing current and future strategies.

I’m extremely passionate about providing the best care for our patients and creating the best working environment for our NHS family. I am confident that by improving the co-operation between key stakeholders this can be achieved. These are challenging times for our NHS but we all have an exciting future ahead as we transition from the peak of the pandemic to recovery and renewal.

My current role within the Patient Safety and Governance Team gives me a deeper understanding of the spectrum of care the trust provides and the current challenges it faces. I have been a member of the NHS family for over 8 years and during this time I have gained better communication skills and am often described by colleagues as approachable and an effective listener. I am a confident speaker who likes to understand the rationale behind decisions which together with my passion for patient safety and staff wellbeing would contribute positively to the role of staff governor.

Maya Liversidge

Scarborough & Bridlington

Maya Liversidge has worked for the Trust for eight years as a Community Fundraiser for York Teaching Hospital Charity and is deeply passionate about our NHS, our hospitals and the work she does. 

She is a Mum to eight-year-old twins and has had the joy of living on the East coast for most of her life. Her role allows her to work across all sites and in the community with the different staff groups that make up our Trust.  She also works closely with local groups and businesses to build partnerships which has given her the confidence to talk to audiences.

Over the years she has created excellent working relationships with staff and this has had a positive impact on her work which in turn would be a strength in a Governor role.   As a Governor she wants to support the work of our local hospitals and the staff that make them what they are. Her drive to see improvements, positive change and successes motivates her to  listen to views, share your concerns and be a voice for Scarborough and Bridlington staff.

Franco Villani

Scarborough & Bridlington

Franco has enjoyed working in the Trust’s estates team at Bridlington Hospital for 24 years.  His experience at Bridlington hospital brings in-depth knowledge of its wards and facilities along with daily contact with the teams who try to make it work well. He strives to always remain approachable and to encourage local Staff ideas and suggestions. He will seek and support every opportunity to find ways of improving services and morale at the hospital through increased investment whilst developing his wider understanding of how the Trust operates overall.  As a Union rep, he was honoured to receive a TUC Health and Safety Wellbeing Representative of the Year Award and received lots of messages of support from work colleagues.

At home he enjoys walking, swimming, cycling and sunny holidays with his wife Diane . He enjoys team working, learning from other people’s ideas, thoughts, and views, and “getting the job done.”   He would be delighted to contribute more and to making a difference.

Sharon Hurst

Community

Sharon has worked for the Trust for approximately 28 years.  She trained as a registered nurse at York and has held various nursing posts including staff nurse, ward sister and matron. Sharon has also been a deputy directorate manager and worked corporately in healthcare governance and risk and legal services and last year she learnt about integrated working in the community.

Review papers described colleagues re-shaping health and social care and working in partnership with patients. She decided then that she would like to be part of the community team. So, when a position as a Locality Manager for Selby and South York was advertised, she applied and was appointed in January 2015.

Sharon joined the NHS to make a difference and appreciates the impact that her community colleagues have on patients’ lives. When she talks about colleagues she includes those directly and indirectly involved in patient care e.g. therapists, community and specialist nurses, human resource managers/advisors, administrators and colleagues working in estates.

She is committed to patients receiving quality services they require and desire by appropriately trained staff. It is also important that staff are supported by the organisation’s leaders to deliver services in the 21^st Century.