Why you should become a governor for your local hospital Trust

Retired teacher Sue Holmes has been Lead Governor at Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust for eight years. Below, she shares her experience of being a governor and discusses why you should nominate yourself for the role.

Actioning change

I had no background in the NHS, but after receiving treatment at King’s Mill Hospital I gained an interest and decided I wanted to give something back. During my time as a governor, I’ve seen a lot of change and been involved in many high-level decisions, ones that I wouldn’t have dreamed of having the chance to influence. Every decision I’ve been involved in has helped me to influence positive change in the way our services are running to better benefit the local community, which is at the heart of our hospital.

Eye-opening

During my time with the Trust, I’ve had the opportunity to visit many different departments across our sites and was surprised to find that we employ over 100 scientists! There is so much going on in your local hospital that you don’t know about and becoming a governor gives you the opportunity to become much better informed about how it is run and learn the background of why decisions are made in certain ways.

Connecting with the community

The most rewarding part of being a governor is talking to patients, the public and colleagues within the hospital to find out how they find things at our hospitals and what we can do to make their experience even better. We receive a lot of compliments but we also receive concerns and complaints, which we can pass on to the relevant people with the knowledge that they will be dealt with. ?I also enjoy visiting schools and other community events to spread the word about the wide range of careers available in the NHS and encourage people to become members. Getting involved in community views means I can pass on their comments to contribute towards the creation of the Trust’s next five-year strategy.

It's YOUR hospital

It’s so important that you engage with the services of your local hospital Trust. It’s your hospital and if you want the excellent service to continue, this is your chance to become involved and make a positive contribution. Everybody knows someone who has used our hospital services, be that your gran, your dad, your sister, or your friend. You may not need to use the services right now but I can guarantee that at some point in the future, you will. It’s important to be involved in the running of it so that you can have a say in making the services we provide work for you and your loved ones, and the best way you can do this is by becoming a governor.

Join us

We need forward-thinking people of all different ages and backgrounds to nominate themselves as governor to represent our Mansfield Community, King's Mill and Newark Hospital sites. Becoming a governor means you will be able to influence services, bring forward your point of view and make sure that your local hospital works for the people who use it – the local community.

You don’t need any prior knowledge you just need good common sense and the ability to speak up, challenge those in charge and represent the views of your local community.

Sue

The deadline for nominations is 5pm on Friday 26 May. To nominate yourself, you must first become a member – you can sign up here.

You can then nominate yourself as a governor using one of the following methods:

???Visit here?to download the nomination form or fill it in online

???Phone UK Engage on 0345 209 3770

???Email [email protected]

???Write to: UK Engage, Image House, 10 Acorn Business Park, Heaton Lane, Stockport