Beryl Nock
The old army adage says “Never volunteer for anything”, but I have spent many years doing just that, especially around healthcare issues.
I am a Trustee of Age Concern and their local Older People’s Champion, serving on the Assisted Care Group which works across Dudley Social Services, the PCT and Dudley Group of Hospitals. I am also a Hospital Manager sitting on patient appeals against detention under the Mental Health Act, where patient safety and patient rights are uppermost. Until the merger of two local trusts I was a Non-Executive Director working on many issues regarding patient safety, including complaints against GPs, Dentists and Pharmacists.
I am pleased to say that despite 8 years of operations and continuing cancer care I personally have no experience of things going wrong, but I am fully aware that prevention and the highlighting of the possibility that they might, can only help to deliver an even safer NHS. Safer for patients, safer for the service and safer for the professionals who work within that service.