PEOPLE keen to play a bigger role in shaping healthcare are being encouraged to stand for election as a public governor.

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, which provides mental health, learning disability and community healthcare services in North Hampshire, has vacancies for two governors in the Basingstoke, Fleet and Alton areas.

Governors are members of the Council of Governors and provide a vital link between the public and the Trust board that connects the Trust with the ideas, feedback and concerns of the public. Their role is to raise concerns and ask questions on behalf of people living in the constituencies they represent, to support service users, and to shape the Trust’s development.

Being a governor can be a rewarding role that enables people to be at the heart of the NHS in their community and make a difference to service users.

Nominations for governor elections are open until next Tuesday, July 19. After nominations there may be a vote, after which the successful candidates will be announced in September.

Anyone wishing to stand for election or nominate a prospective governor must be a member of Southern Health.

For a nomination pack, call Simon Thomson on 0845 2414148 or e-mail [email protected].