Spotlight on…
former lead governor Michael Hemmerdinger Michael Hemmerdinger recently stepped down after 12 years as lead governor at the Countess. Michael, who started his career in hospital pharmacy before spending 40 years in the private sector, was part of the very first shadow board (now Council of Governors) in 2004. We had a chat with Michael to find out what he is going to do next and what he thinks about his 12 years at the Countess. How did you get involved with the Council of Governors? I joined Boots and the health service in 1962 and worked with Boots for 38 years in a number of senior positions throughout the UK. I retired in 1998 in Chester and decided to stay. In 2004 the opportunity (to join the Countess) came when the Government had decided to introduce the first 10 foundation Trusts – of which we were one. I applied as a public representative for Ellesmere Port and I was fortunate to be elected. When the post was up for re-election a year or so later the good people of Ellesmere Port picked someone else, but I was asked if I could be a representative for Chester Voluntary Services, having had a lot of experience with charities and representing the Festival Church. What are you most proud of when you look back at those years as lead governor? When I have been on various conferences throughout the country, other governors
then yes I could come back – not as a lead governor but I’d come back as a governor. But that is for the future. If it hadn’t been correct and right for me to finish now I’d probably still be doing it, but we have a very good lead governor who’s taking over from me in Tom Bateman. We’ll have to wait and see. A lot can happen in a year can’t it?!
never had the close relationship with senior managers that we’ve always had here. It makes a huge difference. If you get those working relationships right you’re on the road to some success. In this Trust if any governor has any concerns, Stephen Cross will bring it up and if necessary someone would come and present to us and we can see how we can work together. The bottom line is we’re there to represent the public and our members. Are you going to carry on as a governor? I can’t carry on as a governor for at least one year. If after one year the council of governors say we still require a representative from the voluntary sector,
You also have experience of overseeing elements of primary care as well, how valuable has that been during your time at the Countess? One thing we’re always talking about is patient journey and that once they’ve left the hospital, or if they’re seeing their GP, they’re still a patient and are part of the same journey. Quite often you might find that doctors at the hospital have to ask you all the same questions you’ve already answered for your GP. With the Cheshire Care Record now in place hopefully we’ll start seeing that change. Have you had your 15 minutes of fame yet? I would say that the big moment the whole Trust can take pride in was the visit of the Duchess of Cornwall a few years ago. I wouldn’t say that was fame, but it’s something that was published and it was a great moment for the hospital. Other than that I tend to play myself low key, I can’t agree with people who are up on podiums showing off what they’ve done and tweeting about how great they are.
Senior nurses visit Uganda This visit was part of an 18 month programme between The Countess of Chester Hospital and Kisiizi Hospital in Uganda, made possible thanks to funding through a joint project with the Tropical Health Education Trust (THET) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Four senior nursing leads spent two weeks with the remote 300 bed rural healthcare provider, in the Rukungiri district of South West Uganda. They were sharing their expertise on
patient safety culture and infection prevention and control, including hand hygiene techniques. The emphasis has been on developing safer working practices, through introducing systems for education, training, monitoring, auditing and reporting. Speaking about the visit Lead Infection Prevention and Control Nurse at The Countess of Chester Hospital and trip organiser Samantha Walker said: “We haven’t just focused our activity around the hospital
- we also visited schools and the wider community to share tips on preventing the spread of germs, to help people stay well.”
2-3
A group of senior Countess nurses visited Uganda to support a rural hospital with reducing risks from the spread of infection.