New Governors elected at Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust | News

Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust is pleased to welcome four new governors following a successful set of elections held at the end of 2025.

The elections resulted in the appointment of three new public governors and one new staff governor, strengthening the trust’s Council of Governors and ensuring a broad range of experience, skills and perspectives are represented.

Governors represent the interests of trust members and the wider public, holding the non-executive directors to account and supporting the trust’s strategic direction.

The newly elected public governors are:

• Merrill Bate, elected to represent Waverley. Merrill is a current Royal Surrey Patient Ambassador and brings a strong clinical background from a career in Army nursing.
• Peter Woodford, elected to represent Rest of England. Peter is a paramedic of 32 years and currently works as a clinical manager in the NHS, bringing extensive frontline experience. He is also an Associate Professor at a leading university hospital in London.
• Stephen Thair, elected to represent East Hampshire. Stephen is a retired IT professional and an active Community First Responder, as well as a St John Ambulance volunteer in East Hampshire, offering valuable insight into community-based care and emergency response.

The newly elected staff governor, representing Scientific, Technical and Allied Health Professionals, is Sophie Why. Sophie works at Royal Surrey as the Radiotherapy Operations Lead for Quality and Patient Safety and brings a strong focus on quality improvement and patient safety from within the organisation.

Commenting on the outcome of the elections, Royal Surrey Chair, Joss Bigmore, said: 

“The recent elections have seen strong engagement from the public. I would like to thank everyone who took part in the process and welcome our new Governors to Royal Surrey. Their experience and commitment will be invaluable as we continue to develop our services for patients and communities.”