Our Council of Governors

​Our Governors are the voice of local people and help set the direction for the future of the hospital and community services, based on the views of our Members.  

The Council of Governors is made up of patients, public, staff and partner representatives.

Governors are elected by their fellow Members to sit on the Council of Governors.

Public Governors (Rotherham-wide constituency)

There are 14 seats available in the Rotherham constituency.

Public Governor vacancies

5 x Rotherham-wide
1 x Rest of England
1 x Staff

Gavin Rimmer

Lead Governor

Term of office: 01/06/2020 - 31/05/2023
Re-elected for further term: 01/06/2023 - 31/05/2024

Gavin has been a Public Governor of the Trust since 2014 and in 2018 had the honour to be elected as Lead Governor.

Gavin is a family man with four Children and now 2 Grandchildren, living in Rotherham for over twenty years. He became a Governor because he is passionate about improving healthcare both locally and nationally.

He has been able to apply his knowledge and experience working as a provider of healthcare for the NHS in South Yorkshire and from the twenty-five years engaging and understanding the NHS inner workings as a senior pharmaceutical executive.

Gavin has called on this extensive knowledge and his experience as a patient and parent to help him in his role.  He also brings enthusiasm and (occasionally) a bit of humour!

As the Governors provide a key service on behalf of the people of Rotherham, he would say hand on heart that all of them are proud to serve on behalf of the members and the public.

Gavin Rimmer wearing a grey suit with a red tie

Andrew Ball

Term of office: 01/11/2020 - 31/05/2023 
Re-elected for further term: 01/06/2023 - 31/05/2026

Growing up in Portsmouth, and with a retired Naval father, the Army provided a useful and positive distraction for 15 years, sending Andrew to places around Germany, NI and UK to find excitement.

Andrew left in 1995, having met and married a local girl, and decided to settle in South Yorkshire, he spent the first few years testing ‘civi-street’ and finding his place in it before getting into IT and extending this into project management. Being a ‘people’ person, programming held little excitement for him so falling back on 15 years service he focussed on the control aspects of projects, governance, planning and risks, helping project managers deliver key programmes around the UK. He now works as an Interim Business Consultant, sharing his view and persuading others of a better way of doing things.

Andrew lives in Surrey for work and in Bramley with his wife, a retired Police Officer and now Criminal Analyst with South Yorkshire Police. They have 22 years old twins. His son works in the local economy and striving to find his place in the world and his daughter, organises UK based professional cycling races and events, and is taking on the International world of cycling.

Andrew Ball

Matthew Upke

Term of office: 01/01/2023 - 31/05/2025

Matthew is a Project Manager, working with a Local Authority in England with a focus on adult health and wellbeing.

He has been working with the BAME community in and around South Yorkshire for a considerable number of years.

Matthew’s passion to bolster health and wellbeing and also focus on the improvement of the overall health and social care of The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust and the citizens of Rotherham will bring in the required strategic change outcome, achieved by working collaboratively with the Non-Executive board and other stakeholders.

Matthew Ukpe

Ifechukwude Ogbolu

Term of office: 01/06/2023 - 31/05/2026

Awaiting details.

Ifechukwude Ogbolu wearing a green jumper

Marilyn Gambles

Term of office: 01/06/2022 - 31/05/2025

Marilyn has lived in Rotherham all her life. After working in Rotherham schools for thirty five years as a teacher, advisory teacher and Head Teacher, she retired and has spent almost sixteen years as a volunteer at Rotherham Hospital.

Her husband was an in-patient for many weeks and as a family they were able to witness the hard work, professionalism, and commitment of staff. Marilyn has also been treated herself on a number of occasions and she wanted to extend her volunteer role into governance, so she decided to stand as public governor for Rotherham South and was elected in  2019.

Marilyn’s aim is to see the hospital continue to provide the safest, highest quality care for the local community.

Marilyn is certain that she has a lot to offer in terms of good organisational and interpersonal skills and she will work with the Trust to continue to improve the patient experience and promote its development.

Marilyn Gambles

A A Zaidi

Term of office: 01/06/2022 - 31/05/2025

After training at Manchester, Mr Zaidi was awarded certificate of Specialist in Ophthalmology. He was appointed Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Rotherham Hospital on 1 October 1979 until his retirement on 31 December 2007. In this role he modernised the Rotherham Eye Unit, introducing new services for patients with Eye diseases and was responsible for training junior doctors, Nurses and Opticians.

During his time at the Trust, Mr Zaidi was appointed Clinical Director for Specialist Surgery, which not only included management of Ophthalmology but also the specialities of Ears Nose and Throat and Maxillofacial.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists appointed him Examiner for FRCOphth and he was on the “Consultant appointment Panel” for other hospitals.

Having worked 37 years in NHS and 27 years at Rotherham, Mr Zaidi is well aware of the NHS system, constraints facing Hospitals and the requirements and problems faced by the patients. Due to his previous NHS Experience he believes he would be able to contribute to help all parties.

As a public governor, Mr Zaidi’s main aim is to support the improvement of services for patients.

Mr Zaidi

Matt Skelding

Term of office: 01/06/2023 - 31/05/2026

Matt Skelding is a highly experienced leader, currently serving as the Head of Operations and Development at BPEC since October 2015. In this role, Matt plays a pivotal part in ensuring compliance with regulatory bodies like Ofqual, QiW, UKAS, and IGEM. As a key member of the Senior Leadership Team, he leads the business area management, business development, certification operations, and marketing teams. Matt is instrumental in driving a culture of ongoing improvement within the BPEC group, with a strong focus on organisational development and coaching. 

Before joining BPEC, Matt was the Director of Learning at Full Circle Learning (FCL), in Rotherham and Leeds. Prior to FCL he worked at North Nottinghamshire College as a Subject Learning Coach, Lead Internal Quality Assurer/Assessor, and Plumbing Lecturer.

Earlier in his career he gained valuable experience in the security industry and completed an advanced craft plumber apprenticeship.

Matt's diverse and extensive background reflects his versatility and ability to lead and innovate across various sectors. 

With a commitment to continuous improvement, strategic leadership, and community engagement Matt’s aim during his term as a Public Governor it to support the Trust in making improvements, for the benefit of everyone. 

Matt Skelding wearing a light pink shirt against a white background

Mohammed Ayub

Term of office: 01/06/2023 - 31/05/2026

Awaiting details

Outline of a camera with the test 'awaiting photo'

Dolly Mondal

Term of office: 01/06/2023 - 31/05/2026

Awaiting details

Outline of a camera with the test 'awaiting photo'

Public Governors (Rest of England constituency)

There are 2 seats in the Rest of England constituency.

Geoff Berry

Term of office: 01/11/2020 - 31/05/2023
Re-elected for further term: 01/06/2023 - 31/05/2026

Geoff is a devoted family man, married with two grown-up daughters and six grandchildren.

During his career he enjoyed roles at various levels within several sectors, including retail, construction, manufacturing and latterly IT. He sold his technology business in 2019 and is looking forward to contributing to the Trust and wider community.

Geoff is an enthusiastic high handicap golfer, his golfing ambitions often exceed his abilities, but sometimes there are moments which make it all worthwhile.

Geoffrey Berry

Staff Governors

Staff governors are elected by staff within the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust. 

Julian McDonough

Term of office: 01.06.2019 - 31.05.2022
Re-elected for further term: 01.06.2022 - 31.05.2025

Consultant Anaesthetist

Julian has been a Consultant Anaesthetist at Rotherham Hospital since 2002.

He strives to provide the best care for the people of Rotherham, be that working clinically or managerially, with patients or with staff teams providing the care.

As a Staff Governor Julian would like to influence the strategic direction of the Trust, holding the Non-Executive Directors to account for the performance of the Board that delivers that care.

Julian McDonough wearing blue scrubs

Rachel Bell

Term of office: 01.06.2023 - 31.05.2026

Professional Lead for Medical Imaging, Physics and Illustration

Rachel has worked at the Trust for over 25 years.

Rachel strives to make every experience in the Trust a positive one. She is passionate about the NHS, particularly The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust.

As a Staff Governor, Rachel hopes to influence the direction of travel the Trust takes in the future.

Rachel Bell

Precious Keta

Term of office: 01.06.2022 - 31.05.2025

Person Centred Care Practitioner

Precious feels privileged to be in a position to influence positive change for all our diverse staff and patient groups through continuous change. She hopes to continue this journey with an even greater influence during her tenure as Staff Governor. She is keenly interested in positively influencing the manner with which our Non-Executive Directors plan to uphold our high standards.

Outside of work Precious is kept very busy by her 3 year old twins, between them there is never a dull moment!

Precious Keta wearing a blue nurse uniform

Matthew White

Term of office: 01.06.2023 - 31.05.2025

Person Centred Care Practitioner

Matt is an Audiologist and Hearing Therapist and has worked in the NHS for since 2008 and at Rotherham since 2015. Matt’s clinical caseload is based around adult hearing rehabilitation, with a specialist focus on the management of tinnitus and hyperacusis (sound sensitivity).

Having a clinical and therapy based background has taught Matt the importance of a person centred care approach to his work and his dealings with people in general, be they patients or the staff constituency that he represents. Matt aims to use these skills and mind-set in his role as a Staff Governor. Matt especially feels strongly about promoting the value of ‘joined up’ clinical care and the importance of that care being continuously evolving in nature to give the best care possible first time, every time.

Outside of work Matt is married with 3 children and is very family focused. He loves holidays to Scotland, reading about history and trying new foods whenever he possibly can.

Matthew White wearing a maroon t-shirt with the Trust's logo

Partner Governors