Hello my name is... Peter

Peter Webster, our Lead Governor, writes about his role at the Trust.

Hello my name is Peter Webster and I became lead governor for the Trust last year after first being elected as a governor by the public three years ago. I stood for election after retirement from my full-time job as a managing director as I wanted to contribute something positive to the local community. Mental health was an area close to my heart and having had family members affected by it, I was keen to see how we could do things better in the future.

As a governor, my job is to ensure I represent the views of the public and that our services reflect what they need. As lead governor, my job is to be a champion for governors to ensure that all governors have a say and that actions arising from our meetings are acted on and responses to any questions are given.

One of my favourite responsibilities is to go out on service visits – meeting those delivering our valuable services and learning all about how things work and run on the front line. Some of the major improvements I’m witnessing on the wards recently are down to the big efforts made by our staff to reduce restrictive practice.

One of the highlights of being a governor is celebrating success and being a judge for the Trust Awards. It’s such a wonderful way to see and celebrate all the outstanding work done on a day to day basis by our fabulous teams. The annual Trust Awards took place on 8 November. I’d like to congratulate the winners and also celebrate all those who were nominated.

My focus over the next few months or more will be on the collaborative work developing between mental health service providers in the region and other health care providers as part of the mental health collaborative. I’m pleased and proud to say that we have a very active and enthusiastic Council of Governors and all of our governors are keen to be involved. With high attendance rates at all meetings, we’re keen to ensure we have a prominent seat at the table as part of this collaboration.

In my new role as lead governor, I have a personal commitment to ensure that our Council of Governors is accessible and diverse. So I’d like to call for more members to join our Council and work with a great group of people who are passionate about improving mental health and learning disability services.

The latest election to our Council of Governors is currently taking place. Remember, there are no barriers when it comes to joining the Council of Governors, we’re looking for diversity and a Council that is fully representative of the communities we serve. It would be great to see more young people represented too.

If you’d like to find out more about our governors and how to contact us, visit www.leedsandyorkpft.nhs.uk/get-involved/