Public constituency - Rest of England

Tim Durkin

I am the Public Governor for a Constituency called The Rest of England. Whilst that sounds a monumental area to cover, in practice I am not expected to do so, and can concentrate on the area south of the Humber, where the Trust provides some perinatal services and with some connections to the parts of Yorkshire not covered by the other Constituencies. 

For over 50 years I have had a particular interest in the provision of mental health services, particularly in the community. I was the founder Chair of Hull and East Yorkshire Mind in 1976 and later became the national Chair of Mind for six years and able to have some input on national policy. In addition, as a Solicitor in Hull, I represented, for over 30 years, patients detained under the Mental Health Act.

In semi-retirement, I wished to pursue my involvement  with mental health services and being a Governor has also enabled me to pursue my interest in community services and the involvement of patients and carers.