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.

Helen Fields

City of York

From the age of 18 until retirement, Helen’s career has been firmly rooted in the NHS.  A registered nurse, nurse teacher with a master’s degree in education, she spent many years working in a clinical and teaching capacity.  For thirteen years she worked as a Senior Civil Servant in the Department of Health and was responsible for over 40 staff and a multi-million pound budget. 

Helen is very familiar with the work required of a governor having sat on the Board of the UK Sector Skills Council for Health and she was subsequently appointed as a Director of Strategy and Planning with the same body.  It is these skills plus those of communication that she brings to the position.  Helen’s links with York Hospital are predominantly through patient experience both personally following a mild stroke and also through caring for her elderly mum who has since passed away.   

Helen believes that giving time and commitment to the role of governor can bring real benefits to promoting excellence in patient care. She believes the governor community is highly valued and able to draw on a variety of experience and contributions.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Vacancy

East Coast of Yorkshire

Vacancy

East Coast of Yorkshire

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Vacancy

East Coast of Yorkshire

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. 

David Wright

Ryedale & East Yorkshire

David is a fellow (and former Trustee) of the Royal Society for Public Health and is passionate about getting the best possible care for the local community.  He strenuously supports the fair distribution of resources within the localities and, as a past President of the Institute of Hospitality, he believes he is able to marshal arguments and advocate measures that will support the Trust and strengthen its effectiveness across our County to ensure the best possible health benefits for all.

Vacancy

Selby

Vacancy

Selby

Doug has been a Selby resident for over 20 years. As a local resident and patient of the trust he appreciates the clinical care provided by the trust and now he has retired wants to give something back by playing an active part in the needs of patients and staff, trust policies, procedures, decisions, and trust performance.

He is not afraid to ask difficult or challenging questions to ensure the work of the trust is in the best interests of staff, patients and the local community.

Amit Bhagwat

Out of Area

Amit has worked across many parts of the world and brings international recognition in the fields of information and communications technology, programme management and governance. He has chaired several bodies and events in fields across technology, management and wider governance, and served on the board of the Professional Associations’ Research Network. His work has also received recognition through the UK IT Industry Awards, Risk Management Awards and Business Green Leaders Awards.

Amit has a strong national reputation for public service and has been associated, in board roles, with national names like Mind, Age UK and Student Minds. At the time of his appointment as governor, he has been associated with two national scientific advisory committees of the Department of Health and Social Care, been chairing a charity headquartered in Yorkshire, been serving as senior independent board member of a Public Sector board, and as Public Representative on an NHS England subsidiary board.

Amit has also been lay leader for the National Institute for Health Research(NIHR) Patient Safety Translational Research and has separately also contributed to work of the NIHR Surgical MedTech Co-operative, bringing together the breadth of his profile, his high degree of independence from clinical professions and ability to grasp and connect complex concepts across STEMMB (STEM+Medicine+Business). He has also contributed to complex public sector assessments – both as a chair and independent member in assessments of NHS commissioners; as lay member and chair of focus groups on the Keogh Review into patient safety; and as designer and lead for an appraisal process carried out across the Department of Work and Pensions.

Amit has been governor of multiple foundation trusts, and has written a guide for foundation Trust governors, directors and executives on developing effective governance that ensures public accountability, protects public interest and maximises long-term value.

Having spent his formative years in India, Amit understands what a world without an NHS safety net looks like and has a strong commitment to its underlying principles. Through greater part of his adult life, Amit has been based in Yorkshire.

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. 

Chris Pearson

North Yorkshire County Council

Chris has been appointed as a stakeholder governor on behalf of North Yorkshire County Council. 

As part of his Council portfolio, Chris sits on the Care and Independence Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Joint Sub-Committee for Transport, Economy and Environment and Scrutiny of Health Committees together with the Selby Area Committee. 

Chris was appointed as a stakeholder governor in October 2015 and as part of his responsibilities also attends the Trust’s Transport Group. 

Paul Johnson

YTHFM LLP

Paul has been appointed as a stakeholder governor on behalf of YTHFM LLP.

He has worked over 7 years for York & Scarborough Teaching Hospital Trust and the LLP 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, thus acting as an existing link between the LLP and the Trust.

His current role within the LLP 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 LLP.

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’

Vacancy

Charity Organisation

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.

Mick Lee

York

Mick has served as a York Staff Governor for 6 years (2014 - 2020).  He has a lot of insight and experience in representing the staff constituency at York Hospital.  He continues to be committed to the Trust as much now as when he started in 2008 following a 31 year career in HM Forces (RAF).

Colleagues have come and gone in that period, but what has remained constant throughout is the dedication, professionalism and compassion of Trust staff.  He would like to use his position to give them a platform by which their voice and opinions are heard.

Vanessa Muna

York

Vanessa has worked in York hospital as a bank clinical pharmacist since late 2017. She is very dedicated to her job and colleagues. It’s the privilege of her life to work in York. Her colleagues are very supportive and her work environment is very friendly.

She enjoys looking after patients and learns so much from them and colleagues. Throughout her time at the Trust she has always been treated fairly with dignity and respect and she would like to continue to convey those values to patients and staff in her role as governor.

Her clinical skills as well as her passion and dedication to York hospital, will stand her in good stead to serve the local community and sees it as an absolute privilege.

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.

Vacancy

Scarborough and Bridlington

Byron has been working in the NHS for 10 years and working at YSTHFT for almost a year.  His background is in the operating theatre where he first started as a porter and then progressed to becoming a qualified Operating Department Practitioner.  

He believes that his knowledge and skills in leadership, management and learning will help with strategic direction, growth and advancement of the Trust and and the wider community.