We recently had a catch-up with Helen to find out more about her career and what her new role as a trustee will involve.

What inspired you to join GNAAS as a trustee?

I always have had a huge admiration for the work that the charity does and when I knew I was retiring the chair and the acting CEO both said to me there would be a trustee role coming up if I was interested. I didn’t really have to think about it and was delighted to be offered a place with the charity.

I also have a very personal reason for wanting to join. When my nephew was 17 he had a very serious cycling accident and suffered a major head trauma. GNAAS cared for him at the scene alongside NEAS and he was airlifted to the RVI where he had surgery for a major brain bleed. Every year we get to celebrate his birthday we are grateful for the care he received and I am in no doubt that the interventions that GNAAS provided that day saved his life so here I am saying thank you for that through this trustee role.

Could you talk me through your medical career from the beginning up to now?

I am a nurse by background. I trained at North Tees Hospital from 1983 to 1986 and my first job after I qualified was in theatres.

After that around 1987 I moved to be closer to home and had a job as a spinal injuries nurse at Hexham General Hospital – of course we saw some really significant injuries for people as part of that and that is when I first became really interested in working in trauma.

After a couple of years I moved to the Freeman and worked across orthopaedic elective and trauma and also did a stint in rheumatology.

I became a sister at the Newcastle General and then after having my two girls I started doing a bit more work as a junior manager.

In my management career I have been a speciality clinical lead, a programme director (at South Tyneside Hospital), a director of estates and then a chief operation officer managing the day to day running of all of the medical and surgical wards, accident and emergency, intensive care, children’s services, maternity and neonatal care, theatres, radiology and labs.

That carried on into my next move which was to Cumbria Hospitals where I spent four years before returning to the North East and a year with Northumbria before I became the Chief Executive at NEAS in September 2019. I retired from the NHS after an amazing 42 and a half years.

Do you have any highlights or stand-out moments from your career?

Becoming a ward sister was a real moment of pride for me and for my family as that was really my biggest ambition at the time.

I am proud that I have always kept the patients at the heart of everything I have done even when that meant recognising when things weren’t right and doing my best to try and fix those things.

My philosophy has always been to make decisions that would be something I would want for my family and loved ones and if we hold onto that then we always will try to do our best for our patients and colleagues who are looking to us for care and support.

I have lots of patient stories that I carry with me – some are amazing and some are very tragic. I have learned from every one of them and will continue to do that in my new trustee role.

What challenges have you faced during your career?

There are different challenges at different stages where your work and your home life don’t necessarily rub along as well as you would want.

Having two young children whilst building my nursing career and studying for my MBA was pretty tricky at times.

Competing in what was often a man’s world in my managerial roles was a challenge at times. As the only woman in the room I was often asked to make the coffees or take the notes and it took patience and determination to push through those times to where we are now, where there is a much greater level of equality.

Overcoming self-doubt and recognising the value I could and have brought to the NHS was something that cropped up now and then.

It is fair to say that the NHS has always faced its own challenges and I think the biggest thing to work through and around will always be working within tight budgets with limited resources and a level of very high expectation (quite rightly) from the population. I became very good at juggling this over the years!

What does your new role as a trustee entail?

Trustee roles within GNAAS are volunteer roles but carry a high level of expectation from the charity, the regulators, the amazing public who support us and our staff who work tirelessly to ensure the service can be delivered to a fantastic standard.

I see my role as someone who will listen to our teams. Who will support the charity to grow and keep flourishing. To ensure our governance is strong and to act with honesty and transparency in all of my interactions.

How has your experience as both a CEO and clinician prepared you for what you’ll be doing in this role?

I have always felt that coming from a clinical background has helped me to better understand the challenges our frontline teams face but my managerial roles up to and including my CEO role have helped me to appreciate the importance of the bureaucratic side of the work. One cannot work without the other and every person’s role in any organisation is a cog in the mechanism that keeps things moving – in our case keeps the rotors and the wheels turning to ensure our save lives ambition can be met.

I hope my experience in balancing all of this will help GNAAS as it continues to serve the huge population it covers.

How have you found your time at GNAAS so far?

It has been a fab introduction to the teams across both the main sites. I have been met by colleagues who have a burning ambition for GNAAS and in my experience if you have that in your teams, success is pretty much inevitable.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I am just resetting things now I have retired. I enjoy gardening, walking my little border terrier Dobby, spending time with friends and family and I love to travel. I have a passion for reading and will pretty much read anything from biographies to travel, from horror fiction to harry potter – any recommendations for my next read are welcome.