A RETIRING hospital governor is urging others to step into her shoes and take on the ‘rewarding role’.

Jo Bowkett, who is stepping down after three years as a West Dorset governor at Dorset County Hospital for family reasons, wants to encourage people to put themselves forward for the upcoming elections so they can help shape the future of local health services.

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is due to hold elections in a number of constituencies for positions on the Council of Governors in the coming weeks and Mrs Bowkett said she is keen to see younger people put themselves forward.

She said: “We’ve had a good range of backgrounds among the governors but the majority of governors are older people so we do need to attract younger governors to better represent our constituents and engage the younger generation.

“There are challenging times ahead in the NHS so it would be an exciting time to join the governors.

“It’s a rewarding role, having the opportunity to represent the views of constituents and convey those views to the board.”

Mrs Bowkett, who has 20 years of experience of in the NHS, said she hoped the new governors would help carry on the recent progress made by the hospital.

She said: “The transition from a hospital that was struggling financially to the position we are in now has been an incredible journey.

“I wish the hospital every success for the future.”

Anyone wishing to nominate themselves for the elections – which are taking place in Weymouth and Portland, West Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck and South Somerset – must be a member of the Foundation Trust in the constituency for which they wish to stand.

Anyone interested in finding out more can contact Margaret Godfrey on 01305 255419 or email margaret.godfrey@dchft.nhs.uk.