To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.
Soren Kierkegaard
My current role
I was elected as a Patient Governor in July 2024 for my first three-year term of office.
As a retired senior academic with substantial leadership and management experience, I bring a range of transferable skills to the work of the Governor role. I take pride in my communication skills and am fascinated by the communication challenges faced by a large and complex organisation such as Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH), particularly the issues of consistency and synchronicity when multiple communication channels are deployed.
I am known for being a good listener, exceptionally methodical, well-organised, and a conscientious 'completer-finisher' of tasks and projects. I welcome the opportunity to deploy my skills and experience for the benefit of CUH and its patients.
Previous history
In my role as a university Senior Learning and Teaching Fellow and earlier as a County Education Adviser, I enjoyed over twenty years of collaboration with industry, which involved senior level liaison. It was with external funding from industry partners that I established and managed my university’s Centre of Excellence in teaching and learning technologies. The Centre's work included evaluating government initiatives to promote the use of teaching and learning technologies in schools. Additionally, I led the evaluation of a flagship Europe-wide, EU-funded €12m project on Schools of the Future.
My interest in communications related to the patient experience arose following my move from the Northwest in 2020, when the medical transition in terms of continuity of care did not go as smoothly as I had expected. After joining my GP’s Patient Participation Group (PPG), I initiated and led a patient experience survey. The resulting patient survey report and recommendations helped produce a practice-specific Patient Information Brochure and informed various management decisions.
Personal interests
My passion for learning, music, dance, language, and effective communication has brought me lifelong joy and has guided both my career and leisure time:
- I enjoy writing poetry and children’s stories
- I love public speaking and I am a member of the Queen’s English Society
- I sing in a choir and love all kinds of music
- I enjoy proof-reading for friends and family
- I am a Committee Member of my GP’s Patient Participation Group
- I love woodland walking and the outdoors
- I regularly attend pilates classes and I delight in dancing to keep fit
- I have enjoyed being a National Trust research volunteer for many years
... but most of all, I love family:
- My husband and I moved from the Northwest to be closer to three of our four offspring.
- I have been engaged in researching my family history and writing ancestral stories for almost thirty years.
- I write my children’s stories especially for my grandchildren.