Our governors

You can stand for election to our new Council of Governors if:

• You are a member of the NHS Foundation Trust, (if you are not a member but wish to join our Trust please fill in our online form) link to form
• You are 16 years or over,
• You are a member of the constituency you wish to represent
• You can be appointed to the Council of Governors if you are asked by your organisation to do so, following a formal approach from the Trust.

Governors represent the views of and provide a link to our public, staff and partner organisations.

Governors of South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust will have the opportunity to:

• Ensure we are accountable to our members and the communities that we serve
• Represent the interests of our partner organisations
• Communicate effectively with our members and help us to develop networks for engaging with the wider community
• Help us plan for the future by canvassing the views and opinions of members and local communities
• Influence change, development and improvements to the way we deliver care to our patients and service users

Collectively, governors have an advisory, guardianship and strategic role within the governance of the Trust, which is crucial to our success.

Our Council of Governors consists of 26 governors covering the following constituencies:

Chair (also Chair of the Board of Directors)

15 Public Governors

• Durham - Christine Bullmore
• Gateshead - VACANCY
• South Tyneside - Gerry Fionda, James Jordan, Paul Dearnaley, Dileep Deshpande, Allyson Stewart  (Lead Governor), VACANCY
• Sunderland - Simon Ayre, Tara Burrell, Anita Hagan, Dave McNicholas, Ian Thurlbeck, Pauline Palmer
• Rest of North East of England - VACANCY

6 Staff Governors

• Clinical Acute Staff - Mayflor Bernal, Lindsey Downey
• Clinical Community Staff - Mark Tull
• Medical and Dental - Shahid Junejo
• Non Clinical Staff - Chris Anderson, Kimberley Wilson

Appointed Governors

• Local Authority, South Tyneside - Councillor Paul Peal
• Local Authority, Sunderland - Councillor Dianne Snowdon
• Higher Education Medical Schools - Scott Wilkes

Dilieep Deshpande

Dileep's employment with the NHS started in January 1980 in Hospital & Community Paediatrics.  He was a representative of Community Paediatrics on the District Medical Committee and later on regular meetings with the Trust for few years.  He is an active Member of the British Medical Association and has a keen interest in local Health Care provided by Hospitals and GPs.

Dileep is a resident of South Tyneside and hopes to raise issues relating to healthcare try to improve the quality of care.

Allyson Stewart (lead governor)

Allyson has spent the majority of her career in the Voluntary Sector providing her with vast experience as a Director and also as a carer.  She has previously taken an active role in the local hospital as a former Governor and Lead Governor.  Allyson has a particular interest in departments which carry out a great deal of valuable work behind the scenes, such as security, waste management and the mortuary. 

James Jameson Jordan

James is a passionate supporter of the NHS and has lived in South Shields all of his life. He is now retired after serving in the army for 10 years and in the police service for 30 years. He has experience of the fantastic work of the staff in the NHS.

Gerry Fionda

Gerry is a resident of South Shields who is retired and applied to be a governor to help the NHS by giving something back. He is a member of South Tyneside CCG Patient Group, part of his GP’s Patient Group and Chair of his Residents’ Association. He believes the world we live in works better when it works for all and will work to ensure that excellent patient care continues to be the primary objective.

MARION LANGLEY

KAREN WHITE

Simon Ayre

Simon is a retired NHS Registered Nurse.  During his career he helped to care for the people of Sunderland, South Tyneside and beyond.  He is now an elected Councillor for St Chad’s Ward and the City of Sunderland.  

As a governor he will work to ensure that the people of Sunderland are at the very heart his governor duties, and he will be visible, engaging, proactive, committed, and passionate to the role.

Tara Burrell

Tara is a leader of a local Primary Care organisation with over 40 years' experience working across health, social care and emergency services.  She has developed a holistic view of the pressures and challenges faced by public services, the reliance they have on one another and the power of collaboration and partnerships.

As a patient, carer and healthcare leader, she has substantial and varied experience of receiving care from, as well as working alongside, frontline STSFT teams.  

She was raised in South Tyneside, she has lived in the Sunderland area for 30 years, actively pursuing her passion for improving the care of our local population through her work.  
 

Anita Hagon

Anita has been a Public Governor since 2019 actively volunteering to be the governor ‘voice’ in a number of Trust groups helping support standards, ensuring good health and wellbeing of the patients and our dedicated NHS staff.

She relishes the opportunity to review, challenge and assure excellent standards of care, financial systems and governance issues as a Governor.

Anita has actively volunteered during the pandemic for the NHS, local council and St Johns ambulance service supporting our most vulnerable individuals in our local community.

Dave McNicholas

Dave retired from the NHS in 2020 where he worked on Coronary Care, Medical, Surgical and ENT/Facio-maxillary wards before specialising in Critical Care.

He would to like to use his knowledge and experience as a Nurse, Trade Union Representative and Manager, in helping to ensure that the health provision for the population of Sunderland and South Tyneside is delivered to the highest possible standard.
 

Ian Thurlbeck

Ian is passionate about the NHS and the important role it plays in many people’s lives. The role of governor gives him the opportunity to give something back to this key service in our local area.

He is an NHS service user born and bred in Sunderland, and with strong family connections working within the NHS over several decades. 

Ian has recently retired, and now feels he has the time, knowledge, experience and desire to make a difference to the services local people receive; services which are perhaps even more important now in view of the ongoing challenges many people face achieving good physical and mental health.

JESS MOORE

VACANCY

To be filled in the elections beginning April 2025

Christine Bullmore

Christine retired from the Trust in December 2023 after 47 years.  Her background is in science, technology and planning and she as a Biomedical Scientist for over 30 years before being appointed as the Trust Emergency Preparedness Resilience and Response (EPRR) and Business Continuity Manager.

She believes that everyone deserves easy access to flexible and responsive health and social care and would like to help with this in her governor role. 

In her retirement she enjoys the outdoors, teaching swimming, volunteering for the RSPB and gardening with her dog.

UPMA MISRA

SUE BEATTIE

SEKINAT OJETOLA

TIM BURDETT

VACANCY

Mark Tull

Mark began work in the NHS 31 years ago as a Student Nurse and currently has a dual role as a Clinician and a Mental Health Team Manager.  He believes that any successful health organisation must ensure that it has the welfare of not only the community it serves but also the staff it employs.  His is passionate that staff wellbeing and in particular mental wellbeing are high on the agenda of the organisation.

SAEED AHMED

Prof Scott Wilkes, Education - University of Sunderland Medical School

Scott is Head of the School of Medicine, Professor of General Practice and Primary Care at University of Sunderland and part-time GP in North Tyneside.  He has extensive experience on a number of Research and Educational Boards and also served as a non-Exec Director for a number of organisations.  Scott is a member of the Society for Academic Primary Care and has delivered a number of BMJ masterclass lectures throughout the UK.  His research interests centre on the management of infertility and hypothyroidism in general practice and embedding new technologies in the clinical consultation.

Cllr Dianne Snowdon

Dianne is the appointed governor representative from Sunderland City Council.  She has represented the Washington Central Ward since 2008 as a Labour and Co-Operative Councillor, and has lived in Washington for most of her life.

She has many years’ experiences as a school governor my community interests including been Chair of the Columbia Community Association and Vice Chair of the Regional Scrutiny Network.

Cllr Paul Dean

Paul is the appointed governor representative from South Tyneside Council.  

We are holding elections for Governors on our Council of Governors in the following constituencies:

If you’d like to know more about being a governor, or are thinking of standing in the election, please attend one of our virtual awareness sessions. An information pack is available by contacting the Membership Office on 0191 202 2171 or downloaded here

Wednesday 2 April at 10:30am
Monday 7 April at 3:00pm
Thursday 10 April at 5:00pm

As spaces are limited, please register by contacting the Membership Office on 0191 202 2171 or via email at stsft.membershipoffice@nhs.net

To complete a nomination form online visit: www.cesvotes.com/STFT2025

If you would like a hard copy nomination form, please contact the Returning officer by calling 020 8889 9203 or email ftnominationenquiries@cesvotes.com

The nomination form will be available from Tuesday 1 April.

You will need to submit your nomination form by 5pm Thursday 1 May 2025

Spring 2025

Summer 2024

Spring 2024