Why Margaret Bamforth became a governor

Hello from your governor Margaret Bamforth.

Margaret is one of our new governors elected in December 2024, we caught up with her to find out why she became a governor at the Trust and what she hopes to bring to the role. 

What motivated you to stand for election to become a governor?

I have always believed in the NHS and its values. I recognise the huge challenges the NHS currently faces, and I hope that by becoming a governor I will be able to continue to contribute to our local NHS services. The role will involve engagement with the wider community and connecting with patients and NHS staff which is something I enjoy. I am a great believer in better integration of services, in other words, the bringing together of community and hospital services, and I am very excited by the future collaboration between the Trust (WHH) and Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. 

What career / jobs / life experiences have you had that are relevant to your governor role?

I have had a long career in the NHS and over that time I have had several different roles. I have worked in mental health services with children and families. I have worked with young doctors in education and training and supported their professional development as future consultants. These roles gave me a good insight into the NHS as a complex organisation which requires good leadership. My last role before becoming a governor was as a non-executive director (NED) with WHH which was very different from my previous jobs but very rewarding. I believe these roles have helped me to become a better listener, to be curious, to challenge when necessary and to be a critical friend, someone who can offer support but also challenge. 

Tell us about your connection with WHH?

My connection with WHH began when I worked in Halton with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Team (CAMHS). At that time, Halton and Warrington hospitals were separate hospitals. The children’s wards were based in Warrington so I would visit Warrington when a child with a mental health problem was admitted to the paediatric ward. I brought up my three sons (I now have four grandchildren) in Warrington and, although we did have some contact as a family with the hospital, we were not frequent visitors. Retiring form my role in medical education in 2016, a colleague suggested that I might be interested in the role as non-executive director and I thought it would be an excellent way to reconnect with the local hospitals. I very much enjoyed my time as a NED and continue to feel a strong connection with all the local hospitals. 

Thinking back on your two terms as NED what would you say are your achievements / legacy?

I feel very proud of my involvement with maternity services as the NED maternity champion. This was a new role introduced by NHS management in response to some of the concerns raised nationally about maternity services. I did monthly visits with the chief nurse to hear from staff and patients about issues they wanted to raise. One issue was the huge amount of information that the midwives were required to gather for reports for the various regulators. This was very time consuming, and they were frustrated it took them away from caring for mothers. The IT system they were using was primarily designed for the other hospital services and was not working effectively for the maternity service. Working with the board, I supported the acquisition of a new IT system designed specifically for maternity services. I was pleased to learn at my first observation of the board as a governor that this system is now in place and is working well.

I also worked with the palliative care team to support the improvement of end of life care in the Trust. One of the important initiatives was to increase the awareness among staff of the importance of having sensitive and timely conversations about dying with patients and their families to ascertain their wishes. Progress on this issue was monitored through the Quality Committee which I chaired. 

What did you learn from your time as a NED?

That would be an extremely long list, but I will try and give a flavour of the things I learnt that I value most. I learnt so much from patients and staff about how services can be improved and the lives of patients made better. Patients telling their stories, good and bad, is such a powerful tool for improving patient care.

I have mentioned earlier being curious and learnt the importance of asking the right questions in the right way and how to keep asking those questions until you get a satisfactory answer. Learning from the times when things haven’t perhaps gone as well as they should is vital in ensuring safe services. Of course, it is also important to learn from those things that have gone well. Simple things like introducing a checklist in theatres can prevent things going wrong. 

I also had to learn to accept some of the constraints and frustrations that arise, such as lack of finance, not having the optimal number of staff, and services having to work under extreme pressure. The NED role is not an operational one, so I had to learn to stand back and let the Executive team get on with managing the service. I learnt the importance of having a strong leadership team who can act as effective role models. I certainly don’t think good team working means always agreeing with colleagues. The best teams have a culture where there is strong mutual respect and appropriate challenge. This helps develop a positive organisational culture which values kindness and civility which is a key prerequisite to excellent patient care. I don’t think you can underestimate the importance of kindness. 

What do you think is the most important role a governor can play? And what do you hope to bring to the role?

The role of a governor is to hold the non-executive directors to account and to engage with the wider community. I think listening to patients and families as well as the community is fundamental. Reaching out is especially important and developing channels of communication. The governors carry out observation visits within the Trust to both talk to patients and staff but also to make their own observations. This contributes to keeping patients safe and improving care. Having worked as a NED in the Trust, I believe I can bring that knowledge and experience I gained in that role to the governor role.

What changes in the NHS that you see locally or nationally excite you? 

I believe there are fantastic opportunities in strengthening community services. Better coordination between community and hospital would make a huge difference to patients’ experience. Developing appropriate services for the frail elderly in the community could prevent hospital admission which would bring many benefits, hospital is not always the best place if you are frail and elderly.