South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) is seeking nominations for candidates to stand for election in a number of the trust’s council of governor constituencies.
Governors are local people who have an interest in and care about improving their local health services for the good of the whole community. SCAS currently has 13 vacancies for public governors across Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire, as well as a new constituency covering the rest of England and Wales.
Professor Sir Keith Willett CBE, chair at SCAS, said: “Our members and our governors are at the core of the trust, and rightly have a say on how we can improve our services to meet the needs of the people we serve. The NHS and SCAS really need to hear those voices and you can help make a difference to your local emergency services if you stand as a SCAS governor in this year’s elections.”
Helen Ramsay, lead governor at SCAS, said: “Governors care about improving their local health services and are keen to develop stronger links between SCAS and their local communities. As a council of governors, we need to understand and represent the requirements of the people whom we serve and actively listen and value what people have to say.”
Nominations open on 28 September and close at 5pm on 26 October. In order to stand in the elections, you need to become a member of the foundation trust after which you can nominate yourself.
Anyone interested in the role can find out more at scas.nhs.uk/elections
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Notes for editors:
- South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) provides a range of emergency, urgent care and non-emergency healthcare services, along with commercial logistics services, to the populations of the South Central region – Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire – as well as non-emergency patient transport services in Surrey and Sussex.
- SCAS now serves a population of seven million people across the six counties and employs more than 4,600 staff who, together with over 1,000 volunteer community and co-responders, enable the organisation to attend more than 508,000 incidents via 999, handle 1.3 million calls to NHS 111 and make 970,000 patient transport service journeys every year (all data from 2022/23).
- SCAS is a foundation trust, which means it has thousands of members and a council of governors which form an integral part of the governance structure of the trust. Being a foundation trust means there are more opportunities for patients and their families, staff and local residents to play a part in the future of the organisation by becoming members. Find out more here.
- South Central Ambulance Charity raises funds to support SCAS. All the money raised by the charity is used to enhance services, projects and equipment across the trust. The charity works across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire, as well as supporting patient transport services in Surrey and Sussex. Find out more here.
For more information email communications@scas.nhs.uk