Constituency one

Mrs Judy Carrick moved to England from the US in 1973 and has had a varied and happy working life here. Starting as a lecturer, she has taught and lectured, written magazine articles, books and exams before moving into training and quality improvement consultancy.

Her interests include walking, grand opera and all things Newcastle.

Dr Eric Valentine was elected as a Governor in 2021 and is a retired professor of civil engineering who has worked extensively in New Zealand and Australia, as well as in Newcastle, over a career of 50 years. He retains interests in environmental research and in the great outdoors. He came to Newcastle in 1986 and has been a beneficiary of treatment in the Trust.

Eric wishes to use his experience and knowledge of large educational and research organisations to help maintain the highest standards of care in a supportive and collaborative way.

Mrs Aileen Fitzgerald was appointed as a Governor in 2021 and has spent many years working within the NHS in clinical, senior management, primary care and commissioning roles. She is a health visitor by profession and has a particular interest in improving services for children, young people and young adults.

Aileen is passionate about the NHS and wants to use her experience in the role of Governor to help improve the health and wellbeing of local people.

Mrs Pam Yanez is a retired NHS manager and transplant coordinator. Mrs Yanez believes in the delivery of world class healthcare to our residents.

She wishes to use her extensive knowledge of the NHS towards achieving this as a Governor of Newcastle Hospitals. Pam is also passionate about promoting the welfare of patients with kidney disease.

David Forrester is a retired nurse manager and general manager in the NHS. First elected as a Governor in 2018, David has the desire to use his experience in the service of the NHS as a Governor. The patient journey is a particular interest. David had his robotic prostate operation at the Freeman Hospital.

David runs cycling groups for Sustrans and is very active for both Prostate Cancer UK as a one to one counsellor (talking to newly diagnosed men) and as an awareness raiser and for Cancer Research UK as an ambassador.

Kate Cushing wishes to support an open, honest culture at NUTH, with patients and carers at the centre. Her priorities are patient safety and ensuring involvement in their own care.

She is a retired doctor of thirty years, and as a patient with disability wants to be a voice for communities and patients whilst bringing her understanding of current NHS challenges.

A mum to two, she loves books, gardening, wildlife, social media and music. Training in both science and medicine, she moved to Newcastle for Paediatrics training in 1995 and subsequently trained as a GP, working as GP Partner across the region.

As one of 10 GPs in UK with Special Interest in Genetics she developed a Genetics Primary Care service. She combined her Paediatrics and GP expertise as Newcastle Gateshead CCG Clinical lead for CYP & Families and also wrote and created The Little Orange Book as part of a local community team.

Throughout her career, Kate built relationships of trust and championed public engagement within organisations. She was involved with project development with a focus for community involvement and closer collaborative working across primary, secondary, and tertiary care including Newcastle GP in ED service.

Fatema is a British Bangladeshi Muslim born and raised in the UK. A single mum, Fatema’s three children inspired her to follow her dream of becoming a Governor and acting as an ambassador for those who want to ensure that their voices are heard.

Elected in 2024, Fatema is passionate about using her experiences of stigmas and barriers to accessing services to make a difference for everyone in the community, but particularly for harder to reach minority groups. She believes that everyone should be treated with respect and dignity and have the opportunity to be listened to.

As a new Governor, Fatema is ready to listen, act and deliver in her community and has faith that with hard work and a collaborative effort from the Executive team and the Governors, the Trust and the wider NHS will continue to be a legacy for future generations.

As an elected Governor in 2021, Dr Alexandros Dearges-Chantler hopes to bring some of his varied experiences gained over the past 35 years to help the Trust fulfil its 5 year strategy, to not only deal with the ongoing challenges of Covid 19, but to also focus on improving the quality experience of staff, patients and the wider community and delivering sustainable health care.

Dr Dearges-Chantler has experience at senior management and director level in the private, public and university sector. His expertise is with the British Council in a number of countries, especially focusing on customer engagement and relationship management, director for global projects in marketing and communications and this has been replicated working with Universities worldwide.

Dr Dearges-Chantler was the Chairman of Healthwatch Newcastle, which allowed him to focus on his passion for involving service users, their families and community to ensure that their voices were heard by policy makers and acted upon. He has aIso been a director of various Dance groups and on the Board of voluntary organisations.

Dr Dearges-Chantler is an advocate and supporter of LGBT+ rights, especially supporting those with HIV and is also a member of his GP patient’s panel.

Dr Dearges-Chantler is a qualified Mental Health First Aider and Advocate for Mental Health in the Workplace and beyond. He is a qualified life coach and practices mindfulness, gym and wellbeing.