Meet the team - Healthwatch

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Your Healthwatch team consists of staff, board members and our other volunteers. We have a Manager and three Engagement Officers who look after our Enter and View visits programme, adult volunteers and young volunteers. Our Board Members, who bring a variety of experience and skills in the health, social care, human resources and business sectors, set the strategic priorities and oversee our finances. We could not manage without the hard working volunteers of all ages who support our work programme.

Team

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Sheila Scott

Manager

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Linda Gibson

Engagement Officer

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Tracy Rawle

Engagement Officer

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Tara Johnson

Engagement Officer

Sheila Scott

Manager

Email: s.scott@healthwatchsouthtyneside.co.uk

Telephone: 0191 489 7952

Sheila joined Healthwatch in 2017 as Finance and Administrative Officer. She previously worked at Sunderland Carers’ Centre for 13 years in a variety of roles including Administrator, Carers Breaks Scheme Project Manager and Facility & Finance Manager. Sheila, who has worked in the voluntary sector for 25 years, was appointed as Healthwatch South Tyneside Manager in April 2019. She hopes to see HWST grow from strength to strength by building a strong team, enabling HWST to play a part in improving health and social care services within South Tyneside for the benefit of borough residents and ensuring the voice of local people is listened to and acted on.

Linda Gibson

Engagement Officer

Email: l.gibson@healthwatchsouthtyneside.co.uk

Telephone: 0191 489 7952

Linda is the key Healthwatch contact for local groups who want to engage regarding health and social care services in South Tyneside. She was previously South Tyneside LINk’s community development worker, managing and facilitating user groups, conducting research and writing reports for the core group on issues raised by clients. She has significant experience in engaging with communities and public sector partners, having previously worked at the Rekendyke Partnership for six years where she helped develop neighbourhood action plans which attracted significant regeneration funding. Until recently, she was secretary of South Tyneside Region Equality Forum, a position she held for four years.

Tracy Rawle

Engagement Officer

Email: t.rawle@healthwatchsouthtyneside.co.uk

Telephone: 0191 489 7952

As an Engagement Officer/Volunteer Coordinator Tracy works in partnership with many organisations across South Tyneside. This enables our volunteers to have a variety of choices when it comes to supporting us with projects throughout the year. Without them we would not be able to achieve what we do and it is always nice to hear the sense of achievement they feel when improvements are made. We have achieved so much over the last year with the Accessible Information report and surveys at South Tyneside District Hospital and we will soon be supporting NEAS to improve patient experiences, as well as our own Healthwatch priorities. Tracy’s background is mainly in mental health services, having worked both in the community and within a hospital setting. Prior to this she had experience with services for people with physical disabilities as well as older people’s residential settings, gaining valuable knowledge and experience of age related illnesses. She hopes her time at Healthwatch South Tyneside will encourage more individuals to share their own experiences of accessing health and social care services so we can continue to improve experiences within South Tyneside.

Tara Johnson

Engagement Officer

Email: t.johnson@healthwatchsouthtyneside.co.uk

Telephone: 0191 489 7952

Tara joined Healthwatch South Tyneside in 2017 to develop Young Healthwatch. She has since recruited a team of young volunteers aged 16 to 25 who meet once a month to look at issues within health and social care that impact on young people. The group has spent the last 12 months forming and working closely with partnership services to look at issues that young people are facing. We have worked within Special Education delivering workshops looking at the barriers young people with additional needs face when leaving school. The workshops have been a great success and will feed into South Tyneside Council’s Transition Strategy and the way social workers support people with additional needs in the future. Tara also has a Canine Partner Butler, who is very much part of our Healthwatch team. He even has his own ID badge, the volunteers love him and the children and young people we work with are fascinated by him. Tara previously worked with BLISS=Ability, where she was responsible for launching and implementing a new weight management service for people with disabilities across South Tyneside, giving her excellent partnership working knowledge. Prior to this Tara worked for 15 years with Durham County Council as a Young Offending Officer, where she supported very vulnerable young people and families to make positive changes in their behaviour and achieve their full potential. Tara was also responsible for working with young people in large groups to achieve Investors in Children Accreditation for the service.

Board

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Peter Bower

Chair

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Dr Shobha Srivastava

Board Member

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Margaret Adams

Board Member

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Steven Burton

Board Member

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Joy Curry

Board Member

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Ged Dixon

Board Member

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Marilyn Stidolph

Board Member

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Arthur McKean

Board Member

Peter Bower

Chair

Peter was born in Newcastle and brought up on a post-war council estate in the west end of the city. He attended secondary modern school but with the help and foresight of his parents went on to further education, gaining sufficient formal qualifications to put him on track for a profession: a 30 year NHS career. Peter spent several years as a CEO in primary care; then retraining and obtaining a PGCE as a secondary maths teacher at the age of 57. He finished a third career working for the Probation Service. Peter lives in Jarrow with his wife and they have two sons – Simon a single-handed dental practitioner and Adam who recently married and emigrated to the USA. Peter joined Healthwatch to help improve services across health and social care as the two work ever more closely together. He brings to the role 30 years’ experience of the NHS at all levels in both the hospital and primary care services, four years’ experience of the secondary education system, six years of self employment and nine working closely with Social Services through his job in Probation. As well as bringing knowledge of the above services, he has an understanding of research and development, a good grounding in equality and diversity through his voluntary work with a social housing provider, business management, risk analysis and mathematical skills. Gaining an Open University degree, planning to start a business in his third age, and retraining as a maths teacher at 57 shows his enthusiasm and staying power. With Healthwatch South Tyneside Peter would like to be part of a successful team, helping to enable it improve health and social care services for the residents of South Tyneside.

Dr Shobha Srivastava

Board Member

Dr Srivastava retired as a hospital consultant in 1998, and has since used her knowledge and expertise working with the Community Health Council, Public Involvement Forum, LINK and now Healthwatch South Tyneside. She also sits on the Local Safeguarding Children Board and the Domestic Violence Forum, and is a North East Ambulance Foundation Trust governor. Passionate about patient care, she said: “South Tyneside has one of the worst health inequalities, and also our longevity is lower than other areas in the UK. My aspiration is for our area to have the best health and social care for our residents.” Dr Srivastava has been with us as a Board Member since 2013.

Margaret Adams

Board Member

Following a career in nursing and midwifery, working in Europe and the Middle East, Margaret qualified as a social worker specialising in mental health. She held managerial positions in London and Kent and joined South Tyneside Council in 1989 as a training officer, becoming a manager prior to her ‘first’ retirement. She joined the voluntary sector with the Carers’ Association, which was developed by local carers following research she undertook with the regional health authority. Margaret was then seconded into the commissioning section of the Primary Care Trust prior to her ‘second’ retirement, responsible for commissioning the specialist mental health carer services still in place today. She was Chair of BLISS=Ability when they held the LINK contract and is a founder member of Healthnet, where she was chairperson for 15 years, standing down April 2018. Margaret remains passionate about the health and wellbeing of local people and feels it’s important to retain strategic links to ensure the voice and experience of the people is listened to.

Steven Burton

Board Member

Steven has lived and worked in South Tyneside all his life and is passionate about the health and wellbeing of everyone who lives here. He brings to Healthwatch over 25 years’ experience of working with people from different backgrounds and with a varying degree of needs – from children with cerebral palsy to people with physical and mental health issues, people with a history of drug misuse, young people with a history of abuse and other vulnerable backgrounds. Being part of Healthwatch means being able to make a difference and Steven welcomes the opportunity to work alongside the other board members.

Joy Curry

Board Member

Joy is a retired Practice Nurse Manager who has worked in Secondary and Primary Care in South Tyneside for over 40 years and has first hand experience of delivering healthcare in a practice setting. Her main interest is in Primary Care, which often is the first point of contact for patients and acts as ‘the front door’ of the National Health Service. She joined Healthwatch to ensure that South Tyneside residents have the best care available in these difficult and challenging times due to financial restraints and workplace challenges. Joy also volunteers with South Tyneside League of Friends and is a member of The Nurses’ League of South Tyneside.

Ged Dixon

Board Member

Ged is a retired Human Resources professional who graduated from Northumbria University. Following a career in senior management positions in the utilities and retail sectors he established his own consultancy to advise and assist smaller businesses in all aspects of the employment relationship. During this time he supported a number of care home service providers and developed a strong desire to ensure that the best possible levels of care and services are provided to the most vulnerable people in our society.

Marilyn Stidolph

Board Member

Marilyn’s background is in Primary Care. She retired from her role as a GP Practice Manager in April 2018. Whereas clinical expertise is at the forefront of patient care, nevertheless the role of Practice Manager is demanding, particularly in today’s ever changing NHS, and Marilyn led the team to manage those ongoing changes in order to run a successful practice for all concerned. As she had worked for the same single-handed GP surgery for over 30 years, she was also able to form real relationships with the patients and their families and she took pride in being able to make a difference. On retirement, Marilyn felt that she still had something to give. She wanted to continue to be able to speak for the vulnerable and this is what prompted her to join Healthwatch.

Arthur McKean

Board Member

Arthur has been a care worker for 25 years, working mainly in nursing homes, but latterly in domiciliary care, supported living and residential and nursing homes. He currently works as a care worker for several healthcare agencies. Arthur brings a health and social care worker’s view to the role, as well as insights on what needs to be achieved to improve standards both for clients and staff in homes. He wants to support and promote the aims of Healthwatch South Tyneside as he feels it’s a valuable service for the South Tyneside area.

Volunteers

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Arthur McKean

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Margaret Bower

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Stephen Smith

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Angelina Richardson

Arthur McKean

“I’ve been a care worker for 25 years, working mainly in nursing homes though for the past four years I have been working in domiciliary care, supported living and residential and nursing homes. I feel Enter & View visits will really complement the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections by adding more depth. What I bring to the Enter & View role is a health and social care worker’s view as well as insights on what needs to be achieved to improve standards both for clients and staff. I’d like to support and promote the aims of Healthwatch South Tyneside as I feel it’s a valuable service for the South Tyneside area. I currently work as a care worker for several healthcare agencies.”

Margaret Bower

“I became a Healthwatch volunteer because I am interested in the health service, as many years ago I worked as a nurse. I hope along the way, with everyone else, to help improve the care and treatment for patients and others.”

Stephen Smith

“I am 67 this month and live in Hebburn. I have been a volunteer for around 15 years in various organisations. I have received a lot of praise and enjoy immensely what I have achieved in all the various positions.

I have been fortunate to have done various volunteer work with local councils, even becoming a Newcastle Ambassador for the Rugby.

Other hobbies include running – I have completed 27 Great North Runs and have 83 medals and four trophies, mentioned in a recent dispatches documentary.

I volunteer at Healthwatch and other organisations to keep me busy and give me a feeling of helping and I have used the skills I have achieved in other volunteering at to help me in my role as a Healthwatch volunteer over the last 18 months.

I have been involved in different Healthwatch campaigns including summer fayres and the Path to Excellence. I like meeting new people at our monthly meetings and enjoy finding out information from members of the public through listening; acting on the information we gather makes you feel like you are making a difference.

I also volunteer for various organisations including Blissability, Diabetes, South Tyneside Homes, Gateshead MBC, SVP, amongst others to help me stay in the know within different areas and different organisations.”

Angelina Richardson

“I work full time within an integrated care team in South Tyneside. The focus of my work is to promote independence for individuals, enabling them to live longer, healthier lives. We encourage people to take positive decisions that will improve their health and wellbeing and we focus on early intervention and prevention. I became a volunteer for Healthwatch as I am a resident of South Tyneside and I am committed to wanting the best for our community and to empower individuals to speak of their experiences of local NHS and social care services. It also gives me the opportunity to identify and challenge any concerns/issues that occur and be part of a team that can recommend improvements.”