We are delighted to announce that Pam Bradbury has been appointed as the new chair of Healthwatch Dudley and will lead a brand new board of local people, who are all passionate about health and social care.

Pam’s fellow board members are Maria Bailey, Karen Bridgewater, Karen Garry, Tom Hayden, Sally Huband, Joseph Janjua and Bill Weston.

We would like to say a big thank you to the local people who joined our interview panel and workshop before Christmas and who gave us the feedback we needed to make such an important decision.

Pam Bradbury Chair

Pam’s career so far has spanned almost 4 decades, gaining experience as a nurse, manager and leader in the NHS and as a professional advisor within the Department of Health.

Putting patients at the centre of local services has been key to her success and Pam is respected and recognised locally and nationally, as someone who works across professional and organisational boundaries, to ensure patients and the public get the highest quality service possible.

“I will bring a wealth of experience and professional integrity to ensure positive engagement with local commissioners, providers of care and with local people so that services can be designed with their needs at the centre.”

Pam has supported and motivated teams through significant system changes.  She has held operational and strategic positions and has developed a wide range of skills, experience and understanding of designing and delivering new services in partnership with commissioners, providers and consumers of health and social care.

Maria Bailey Board member

Maria has previously managed Birmingham City Council’s public and patient involvement contract and has worked closely with housing, homelessness, probation, public health, NHS mental health and adult and children’s social care to achieve improvements.

The focus of Maria’s work and study is the development of public services; evaluating quality and effectiveness, implementing improvement and redesign to meet the needs of local people.

“I am passionate that no one gets left behind, particularly vulnerable groups such as the homeless or people with mental ill health.  It feels good to be in a position to make a difference through being a board member with Healthwatch Dudley.”

Karen Bridgewater Board member

Karen’s work ensures that vulnerable people are supported in their own homes and she has developed an in-depth understanding of technology to help them to do this.  Karen has contact with local people on a daily basis and ensures that they receive quality information to ensure that they make important life decisions.  Karen also has experience of supporting people with learning disabilities, helping to move them from clinical into community settings enduring that the people involved had a voice and were able to express their views.

“I think it is important that we enable people to not only take responsibility for their own actions but also to be able to share their views of how health and social care can be shaped both now and in the future”.

Karen Garry Board member

Karen is the chair of a board of governors at a Stourbridge primary school and has lots of experience with helping to develop new organisations, including Healthwatch in other areas.  Karen is an experienced researcher and has a background of reviewing services, analysing information, charting progress and gathering evidence of outcomes to make recommendations.

“Listening to people’s voices, views and experiences are essential when shaping local services, but it is what you do with them that is really matters.”

Tom Hayden Board member

 

Tom was has worked and volunteered in the Dudley voluntary sector since 2008. During this time Tom has worked extensively with numerous vulnerable groups including substance misusers, HIV positive adults and children, homeless people, and also the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community.

“I am a Dudley resident and have a genuine passion for recovery, community health and wellbeing.  I want to make sure that the needs of local people are fully taken into account as local services are planned and delivered.”

Sally Huband Board member

Sally leads an independent charity which employs 40 staff, involves 300 volunteers and has an annual turnover of more than £800K.  Sally works strategically with Local Authority and local health partners and has experience of providing a range of key local services for older people which are supported by a variety of funders.  Sally has got extensive knowledge of the community and voluntary sector across Dudley borough with a particular focus on older people.

Sally is also Dudley CVS Director providing a link between both boards.

“I bring a willingness to give older people in particular, a voice and to ensure service improvements for everyone.”

Joseph Janjua Board member

Joseph is a retired Dudley resident with wide interests that include education, health, housing and minority issues.  Joseph volunteers to support his local community and is a board member of St Thomas’s Community Network.

“I hope to contribute a positive light from the knowledge I have gained, learning from past experience and improving services for the next generation of Dudley residents.”

Bill Weston Board member

Bill was a former chair of a local disability action group and has represented people with a range of abilities, to ensure that they have a strong and influential voice.  Bill has also worked within the deaf community, a local sight loss charity and has supported vulnerable people as a befriender.

 

“I think it is important that someone with disabilities is involved at board level, to give a true reflection of the difficulties disabled people face and to build a stronger and better community.”