Sarah Rothery was elected by her colleagues in the Admin, Managerial and Clerical staff group as a staff governor over the summer. Now she’s settled into the role, we asked her to tell us a little more about herself, why she stood to be a governor, and how she hopes to make a difference.
Tell us a little more about you and your role at work
I am the General Manager for Resilience, Acute Flow and Transformation (RAFT), a relatively new directorate in the Corporate Division. My main responsibilities are scoping out ways to transform our resilience and make sure we have robust compliance. I have worked in the NHS for more than 19 years and have worked in management roles in acute trusts, primary care and NHS Commissioning. At home I am married to Liam and have two children, Ava (11) and Jack (15). We’re pictured in Edinburgh in March earlier this year, though my son has grown about four inches since then! I enjoy going on city breaks and spending time at the stables with my daughter who is an avid horse rider - I have recently started to get back in the saddle myself!
Why did you stand for election as a staff governor?
When I worked at the CCG, I was a selected member of a reference group, so I understand the value of having staff representatives to bring the views on behalf of others to the heart of decision making. I am interested in corporate governance and the role helps me to work to support the strategic direction of the Trust.
What are you looking forward to most about the role?
I want to really look at how staff governors can engage with their staff groups through innovative ways. I am looking forward to seeing how I can commit my time, effort and energy to the Trust in a capacity different to my General Manager role. For my professional development, I would like to develop more understanding in Board-level business and conduct through observing how the Board and associated committees operate and function.
How do you hope to make a difference for your staff group?
I will be a proactive staff governor who works to really hear the voices of my colleagues, enabling me to represent their views objectively at the heart of Trust decision making. I will seek out views that can influence the strategic direction of the Trust with the overall aim to maintain continuous improvements to our services, support positive colleague engagement and ensure a sustainable Trust for the future.
Is there anything you’ve learned about the governor role so far that has surprised you or you weren’t expecting?
I don’t think anything has surprised me yet, as we are still getting an understanding of our roles. I have however been impressed at how much the public governors have learnt so much about the running of our Trust in a short space of time – there is a lot to understand!
More about staff governors and how to get in touch with them
Staff governors are elected by members of their staff group and, along with the public and appointed governors they have two main duties. Firstly, to hold the Non-executive Directors to account for the performance of the Board and secondly, to represent the interests of their staff members on the Council of Governors. To do this they need to engage with their staff members on issues or changes being discussed by the Board and feed back information about the trust’s vision, performance and material strategic proposals being made by the Board. So if you are in Sarah’s staff group, she will be in touch soon. You can contact Sarah by e-mail at: contactyourgovernor@cht.nhs.uk
As well as Sarah’s role, we also have five other staff governor roles – for the AHPs/Healthcare Scientists/Pharmacists, Nursing/Midwifery, Ancillary and Doctors/Dentists staff groups. Here are the current staff governors for those groups (we currently have a vacancy in the Doctors/Dentists group):
- Jonathan Drury - AHPs/Healthcare Scientists/Pharmacists
- Emma Karim - Nursing/Midwifery
- Tom Ladlow - Nursing/Midwifery
- Julie Pryce - Ancillary
