I was elected by the Bidston and Claughton constituency as a Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust governor in 2023 for a 3 year term of office starting on 18th October 2023. I am currently working as a part-time employee as a paid organist and choir leader for a Church of England parochial church council in the Liverpool diocese (St Nicholas, Blundellsands).
For the last 24 years I have been self-employed (and am also currently self-employed) and my paid careers prior to starting as governor here (which is over 2 decades) has been quite varied so far in roles (to mention just a few) that have ranged from funeral director, editor, musician, IT support, IT sales (hardware and software), website design and computer consultancy.
Recently however for the last decade my self-employed career has been mainly as a freelance journalist (editor) in new media (online and broadcast) producing output mainly on local government (with a main focus on Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council and Liverpool City Council). I also have covered court/tribunal hearings at various levels (First-tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal, Employment Tribunal, county court, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court) as well as stories about other public sector bodies (which have included local healthcare bodies on Merseyside and the Liverpool City Region including Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust). Recently I have written about the recent strikes of doctors at Arrowe Park Hospital.
In a voluntary capacity I currently do welfare rights advice (specialising mainly in disability benefits). I’ve also previously volunteered locally:
• with a charity supporting those on the autistic spectrum,
• with a different charity supporting people with mental health problems and also
• had various roles previously connected to being a member of a political party (although for clarity I am not a member of a political party at present).
I was born on the Wirral (before Arrowe Park Hospital was opened), lived on the Wirral most of my life and was admitted multiple times to Arrowe Park Hospital as an inpatient as a child. I’ve also had various rounds of surgery (most recently in August 2022) at Arrowe Park Hospital following broken bones resulting from falls.
I’m openly disabled (with multiple different lifelong disabilities) and have particular interests in disability rights (and more widely human rights). For clarity, I’m on the autistic spectrum, have hearing problems, asthma and other disabilities and I hope during my time in office as a governor to play a part in improving healthcare at Wirral University Teaching Hospital for all staff, patients and visitors. The information above is current at the time of writing of 12th October 2023, but there is the possibility it may have changed if considerable time has elapsed.
