Our Council of Governors

Following open heart surgery at Papworth Hospital in 2007, Stephen became a volunteer ward visitor.  In a long career as a senior manager within the construction industry, he contributed to a number of NHS projects. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and past chair of the Cambridge centre.

Following a research and academic career in applied/engineering mathematics, Susan established and ran an organisation and management development consultancy working with Government Departments and private sector companies. She supported women in STEM initiatives at national level.

She was a Patient Governor of Addenbrooke's Hospital for 8 years and chaired the Director/Governor Forward Planning Group. Just elected, she wants to find out more about RPH and where she can best contribute. She has lupus, a chronic illness.

Abigail has been under the care of the Royal Papworth Adult Cystic Fibrosis unit since 2011.

During this time she has received regular care from all areas of both the inpatient and outpatient departments. She feels well-placed to empathise and help offer ideas for improvement based on her own positive and negative experiences of patient life and challenges. As Abigail's care at Royal Papworth will be life long she will also be able to feedback on changes as they occur.

Abigail has experience working in branding and marketing and want's to use these skills to help improve patient experience, especially in the new world of virtual healthcare.​

Ian has taught biology at Hills Road SFC since 1975 and from 1980-2012 was a tutor for the Open University. His interest is in education, communication and engagement.

In 2012 he established Big Biology Day for professional biologists to engage with the public and share their enthusiasm and is Special Advisor for Education at the Cambridge Science Centre. He’s had several links with Papworth including one of his best friends with CF receiving a double lung transplant in 2019.

In 2019 Ian helped to organize the shipment of unwanted equipment from “Old Papworth” to the only free hospital in Sierra Leone.

Richard’s medical career included time in hospitals, the RAF, research and general practice. Since retiring he has maintained an active interest in health issues as well as voluntary work at Royal Papworth Hospital and Addenbrooke’s. In late 2012 he underwent a successful pulmonary endarterectomy at Papworth. As a Governor his main interest is in the quality of care and patient safety/dignity.

Yvonne has lived in Suffolk all of her life and now lives near the Suffolk/Norfolk border in the Waveney Valley. Her entire life has been within the NHS. She is a qualified mental health nurse (RMN) and is particularly drawn to helping/supporting others in emotional distress for whatever reason. Yvonne has completed a counselling certificate with the UEA which she has used within her twenty-five year career as a practice nurse at her local medical centre.

Having deteriorating health due to an inherited heart disease she retired from nursing in 2014, however she still work there a few hours a week in admin. She also trained as an aromatherapist and is a bach flower remedy registered practitioner. 

In 2016 and with chronic heart failure Yvonne was referred to Royal Papworth for assessment for heart transplant and was duly listed. After two false alarms she received her donor organ in February 2018. Her life experience is quite varied and vast along with her insight into illness, having been an Inpatient and now an outpatient at Royal Papworth Hospital.

Trevor retired as an equity partner at an accountancy practice in 2014. He suffers from Muscular Dystrophy and asthma and is a patient of Royal Papworth Hospital. Trevor has been fitted with a defibrillator and has also experienced treatment in the Sleep Study Centre. Trevor uses an electric wheelchair and understands the issues and needs of the less abled.

Angela has recently retired from a senior management role in the position of Head of Business Support, serving 27 years with Antec International Limited (currently owned by Lanxess Limited), a disinfectant manufacturer for both animal and human health products based in Suffolk.  Previously serving 23 years with BASF as Human Resources Manager for the Agrochemical Division. 

Throughout her career she has been very people orientated, engaging with them and most importantly listening with empathy and compassion. She welcomes this opportunity to support the Trust’s strong values of Compassion, Excellence and Collaboration. 

Angela is married with one son, who is currently based in the USA, and has a keen interest in fitness and the world of equestrian. She has had an association with the NHS all her life undergoing major back surgery at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London as well as other members of my family who have health issues.

She is forever grateful for the treatment and support she has received over the years.

Doug has 5 sons and 10 grandchildren. He is a consultant to a medium size family business in the software industry which he started 40 years ago, and he is the proud owner of a Morgan classic car. Whilst having worked and lived in the Home Counties, London and the North of England, Doug has resided in Norfolk for some 45 years.

His career started in the accountancy profession at 16 and having qualified, he moved into the commercial world of service, leisure, and construction industries before deciding to start his own business.

Paul has been a volunteer at Royal Papworth Hospital since 2017 following a successful pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) at Papworth Everard. His duties include meeting, greeting, assisting and signposting patients and visitors in the atrium and outpatient areas; and offering phone support to PEA candidates, nationwide, referred by the PEA specialist nurse team.

He is a qualified teacher and worked as a local newspaper reporter and for Norfolk Social Services.

Prior to early retirement, he worked for an NHS substance misuse service where he helped design and deliver pioneering drug education programmes at schools and colleges in West Norfolk and North Cambridgeshire.

Born and nurtured in Norfolk, Paul lives near King’s Lynn.

Lesley has been in the NHS healthcare system since she was eight years old due to a chronic lung disease.   As a patient at Royal Papworth Hospital, Lesley has personal experience and insight to the needs of patients as well as the medical teams who care for us all.  

She is now retired but worked as a Practice Manager in a Private Medical Practice where communicating with patients and medical professionals was a top priority.  Lesley held various Managerial Posts in various organisations involving liaising with clients and delivering time management training.

She is a fully qualified TEFL tutor teaching English to different nationalities which requires empathy and understanding of our diverse cultures across the world an important aspect in the NHS.  She is a strong communicator and therefore, believes that she can make a valuable contribution with her experience and knowledge for the good of the hospital.

Lesley said she ishonoured to be a Patient Governor and fully embraces the important role and will do her utmost to fulfil her duty with dignity, respect, and professionalism to all people.

As a Patient Governor Lesley can be a voice for patients whether as an in-patient or as an out-patient to ensure care, understanding and empathy to all who maybe daunted at the prospect of a hospital stay as well as acknowledging the challenges of the Medical Teams and other personnel at the hospital

Trevor has spent the last 4 years as a service-user at the Royal Papworth Hospital having had a Heart Transplant in 2017 at the old site.

Most recently he worked in local government in Social Services and retired in 2016.

As a Hospital Volunteer since 2019, Trevor has a keen interest in supporting the patients journey to their recovery.

Trevor has represented Royal Papworth Hospital at the 2019 Transplant Games in Newport.

Marlene’s background is in education. She has been a headteacher, consultant leader, Ofsted inspector and independent education consultant.
Marlene has been involved with Royal Papworth Hospital since 2015 when a close relative underwent extensive open-heart surgery. Since then, her involvement has continued on a regular basis and is predominantly with the respiratory departments.

Harvey is a retired business consultant and professional engineer and brings to the Council of Governors a wide range of general management, commercial, and financial skills. Harvey served as a Governor from 2004 to 2014, during which time he held several positions including Chair of the Forward Planning Committee, Chair of the Appointments Committee, Chair of the Governance Committee, and Lead Governor.  He returned as a Governor in 2016.

Michelle is a mum of 2 currently working as a Ward Sister on 4 South a Respiratory Ward.

She joined Royal Papworth Hospital in 2002 as a newly qualified nurse in Critical Care and worked her way up to become a Sister in 2012.

One of her proudest achievement while working at Royal Papworth Hospital, was becoming a Ward Sister. She loves being able to support staff and understands what it is to be a nurse.

 She became a governor to expand on her job role currently, to be able to support the staff outside of her ward and be the voice of nurses within the hospital.

Sarah is the Staff Governor representing Admin, Clerical and Managers at Royal Papworth Hospital. Sarah joined the NHS in 2005 and progressed through a number of roles before joining Royal Papworth in 2017 where she currently works as part of the operational team based in Cardiology.

Sarah has a keen interest in service development and as part of her role regularly collaborates with system partners to shape the services we offer to our patients collectively. She has also been able to support other tertiary and regional centres in developing their services through shared experience. Sarah works hard to engage with our workforce and ensure that the patient voice is considered in everything we do to ensure we can continue to deliver safe and excellent care.

Sarah is currently studying towards an MBA at Henley Business School.

Along with working as a full-time consultant surgeon, I am the NHS National clinical lead for thoracic surgery, President-elect of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery & Affiliated Assistant Professor of the University of Cambridge.

As a RPH consultant since 2007, I set up the minimally invasive surgery programme and have undertaken various roles including service lead during which time we achieved the best thoracic surgery outcomes nationally.

I became a governor to “be the change I wanted to see”, and to help RPH in our mission: great care, excellent patient experience, innovation, and staff development.

Sound clinical input to governance is important. The value of this was shown during the COVID response: our policies informed by rapid clinically based decision making were well ahead of the curve, and RPH was strongly supportive to its staff. 

As an established doctor I bring my professional and personal experiences to positively fulfil the governor role. I have also been a Papworth patient, so I have a perspective of "both sides".

Andrew joined Critical Care 2014 as a newly qualified staff nurse.

Since 2017 he has worked as an ECMO Retrieval Nurse, ECMO Specialist, and is currently a Deputy Charge Nurse.

The last few years Andrew has served to emphasize the skill and dynamism within workforce and he firmly believes our staff are our greatest asset.

He became a governor to advocate for staff across the Trust in pursuit of our common goal of delivering the highest quality care for our patients.

Rhys is Staff Governor for Royal Papworth Hospital representing the Allied Health Professionals (AHP).  He is a qualified and HCPC registered Physiotherapist and Clinical Physiotherapy Lead for the Cambridge Centre for Lung Infection and has worked at Royal Papworth in two stints first in 2007 and now since 2018. Rhys has over 20 years of experience in the NHS and has lived and worked in the East of England for the last 12 years in a variety of positions. Part of his role has been to shape the AHP strategy for Royal Papworth Hospital, enhancing his insight into the AHP services moving forwards and he is looking forward to representing this at Governor level. He is currently undertaking his MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice at Anglia Ruskin University.

Chris joined Royal Papworth Hospital in June 2012 as a Rotational Pharmacist and has undertaken a range of pharmacy roles over the last nine years.

He has developed a clinical interest in transplant medicine and played a major role in the implementation of the Lorenzo electronic prescribing system across the Trust.

As Deputy Chief Pharmacist, Chris now holds a leadership role within the pharmacy team, and also spends some time seconded to the Digital department, where he focuses on digital medicines and the clinical safety of IT systems.

Having worked at RPH in a variety of roles since I left school in 1996 I’m currently the Deputy Manager of Clinical Engineering where in addition to supporting the Head of Department in the day to day running of the department I’m the specialist engineer supporting the Anaesthesia and Ventilation equipment of The Trust.

My involvement with RPH goes back many more years than that to 1985 when my father received a heart transplant here. I believe in delivering the best care possible to our patients and making RPH a great place to work.

Outside of work I’m a keen motorcyclist and enjoy playing guitar in a rock band.

Dr Caroline Edmonds is Secretary to the School of Clinical Medicine, part of the University of Cambridge. 

Councillor Alex Malyon is the Liberal Democrat Councillor for Longstanston. She is a Member of South Cambridgeshire District Council, which covers Papworth Everard.

Lorraine joined Cambridge University Hospitals as Chief Nurse in July 2018. 

Previously she held the position of Deputy Chief Nurse at University College London Hospitals acting as Head of Nursing for the Surgery & Cancer Board, as well as corporate responsibilities including the nurse education agenda and management of voluntary services. She was seconded on a part time basis for a period of 12 months working on a pan London programme, Capital Nurse, which focussed on recruitment and retention of nurses in London, where she led on the introduction of the internal transfer programme for staff across London, a number of cross boundary leadership programmes as well as acting as executive producer on a film to aid retention. She has worked in a range of nursing roles throughout her career and has held an interim Director of Nursing role previously. She is a visiting Professor at London South Bank University. She is also a Florence Nightingale Scholar.