GOVERNOR PROFILE
MARK CHANDLEY Staff governor and senior mental heath nurse
As a nurse I talk to people, it’s how you get a collective response on an issue, which is important if we’re to make a difference to people’s lives. I’ll do that as a governor too.
I
’m naturally drawn towards the little dog, the people on low pay, who don’t always have a voice. For me it’s about not just seeing things from above. There’s a Buddhist parable which says things look very different from the top of a mountain than from the bottom, but they’re both real. It’s the view from below that I want to represent. I’m passionate about research that involves the people it affects. I’ll use my influence to create a role for patients in research, to bring research funding closer to home so that we can influence the future of high secure care.
COME AND
I’ve been a nurse for 39 years and been part of the evolution of health care in a high secure hospital. I’ve no desire to retire as long as I feel I’m contributing to the future. My particular passion is patients in seclusion, and how it should become a thing of the past. Five years ago I had stem cell therapy for lymphatic cancer. I had to isolate so I was in a sort of seclusion. When the time came for me to go out again I didn’t want to go. I can understand why people who are segregated for long periods withdraw and resist change. Those who care for people in segregation can and should alter their future; we need to be better. But there’s a really positive attitude among staff here and that has a big impact.
There’s a saying by Johann van Goethe which I’ve recited many times. If you treat an individual as he is, he will always remain how he is. But if you treat him as he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and what he could be. By treating a difficult patient with respect, you’ll usually get a more respectful man. Mersey Care is a really well led organisation, I hope to feel assured by what I hear as a governor. I believe I’m accountable so I’ll ask questions and I’ll stand up to scrutiny. Social inequalities remain, but I feel Mersey Care can play a central role in addressing this. To learn more about our Council of Governors, go to merseycare.nhs.uk
JOIN US
You can contact our governors anytime by Email: MerseycareCoG@merseycare.nhs.uk Find out more about our membership and governors at: Website: merseycare.nhs.uk. Phone: 0151 471 2303 or 0151 473 2778 Email: membership@merseycare.nhs.uk Write to: Alison Bacon, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, V7 Building, Kings Business Park, Prescot, Liverpool L34 1PJ
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