Meet our governors

Foundation Trust members have elected a Council of Governors. The Council is made up of 21 public governors (six in North of Tyne, five in South of Tyne, five in Durham and five in Teesside), four staff governors, plus nine appointed governors.

Meet some of our governors:

Simon Walford

Simon Walford.jpg

“When I was a boy in the 1950’s ambulances were very simple vehicles principally designed to carry casualties to hospitals as quickly as possible but without offering much treatment on the way. By the time I started work as a doctor, things were changing as the skills of pre-hospital care, especially for cardiac and trauma patients, were rapidly advancing. Ambulances as we see them now only started to be produced in the 1970’s and only for the last 20 years have paramedic specialists been formally registered. I was always interested in the development of emergency care whilst working as a hospital consultant physician and, later as a medical director. So, when I retired and moved back to the North East and my curiosity was piqued by the NEAS team at the Glendale Show, I signed up to be a member of NEAS Foundation Trust. I thought it would be fun and interesting to understand their work and support them in the community. I have not been disappointed and when encouraged to consider standing for election as a governor I put my name in the hat.

"Governors are a bit nearer the action and see more of the detail of how the service is run through the ups and downs of the NHS at work. The responsibilities are important but very limited. The Directors of the Trust are in charge, but the Governors appoint the Non-Executive Directors and watch them at work to see that they do what they promised to do when appointed. We can go to Board meetings. We have visits to working parts of the service and can ask questions and feedback views from the community to the Chair and Chief Executive at our regular meetings. We are an important way for the local communities who elected us to speak directly to the people who carry the can for how NEAS is working. Because we appoint them, we command their respect and, in my experience, we are always listened to very carefully and never ignored.

"I am a pensioner now and what happens to my elderly friends when medical emergencies happen is something I hear about. But we need people from all backgrounds and age groups because medical misfortune can happen to anyone. Being interested in what NEAS can do for people like you is probably the only real motivation and skill you need to join us. Do you care about the emergency services? Do you want NEAS to be as good as it can be? If you answer Yes, we would like you to think about becoming a governor.”

Public: Teesside 

  • David Brindle
  • Craig Jacques
  • Olalekan Odedeyi 
  • Patricia Scott
  • James Ruddock

Public: Durham

  • Stephen Dunn
  • Andrew Eales 

Public: South of Tyne

  • Victoria Bullerwell

  • Dovid Katz

  • Liz Highmore

  • Michael McNulty

  • Peter Orr

Public: North of Tyne 

  • Anthony Laker

  • Mark Glencorse

  • Simon Walford

Staff class: Emergency operations centre 

  • Frazer Gregory 

Appointed:

  • Devon Lawton
  • Ruth Mitchell

Find out more about the council of governors on our website: Council of Governors :: North East Ambulance Service (neas.nhs.uk

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