Hospital chiefs seek “NHS champions”

HOSPITAL bosses at Warrington are looking for members of the community to become “NHS champions” and stand for election as public governors at their local hospitals.
As an NHS Foundation Trust, Warrington Hospital and Halton General Hospital have a number of public governors  – local members of the community who work with the management and leadership of the hospitals to ensure that decisions are made in the interests of patients, staff and the public.
The governors also help the trust by carrying out other roles duties such as developing new ways of working and engaging with the community and undertaking unannounced visits to wards and departments to ensure quality and safety are being delivered.
The hospitals have nine of their 16 public governor positions up for election this summer. To stand for election people must be over 16 and need to be a member of the hospital foundation trust membership scheme. Membership is free and involves completing a simple online form or
contacting the hospital. More than 12,000 local people are already members of the trust.
Steve McGuirk, chairman of Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for local people to get involved in decisions about their local hospitals and to get involved with us.
“Being a hospital governor means people can have a real say and can represent the needs of local patients – their own family and friends – in helping us improve services and take the hospitals forward in the future. This is a great opportunity to shape the future of the NHS locally.
“We’re an improving trust and have got exciting plans about developing our services. But we can’t shy away from the reality that we also have significant challenges, financially and operationally, and we face seemingly ever growing demands.
“There’s never been a more important time to have the public fully involved in local hospitals and decisions about local health provision so we need good people – from all ages and backgrounds – to stand for election and work with us as governors. Anyone from students to young families to older people would be most welcome.”
The role is not onerous but does require a commitment to attending around six governors’ meetings over the year, and ideally governors would also be expected to participate in other committees and engagement activities where possible. Travel expenses are paid.
Anyone interested in the hospital governor roles who is not already a hospital trust member needs to join before a nomination can be accepted. This can be done by clicking on the “join us” button on the front page of the hospitals’ website www.whh.nhs.uk and filling in the form.
More about the role of a governor can be found on the website or by calling 01926 664222 to be sent a form.