Publish date: 2 December 2022
As I’m sure you’ll be aware, Beatrice Fraenkel’s term as chair of Mersey Care ended last month and the Trust has been led since by acting chair Gerry O’Keefe while statutory checks took place and I finalised my departure from my previous role.
Now I have officially taken over as the new chair, I thought I’d write you a brief note to introduce myself. For those who don’t know me, I was a councillor in Liverpool for 27 years, then chair of Liverpool Women’s Hospital, and since 2005 I have been the MP for West Lancashire. During my time in Parliament, I brought the British Sign Language Act into law as a private member’s bill and was a member of the Health Select Committee since 2010.
Across 50 years of public service, my focus has always been on health care, and getting the best outcomes for patients, an approach I know is shared here at Mersey Care.
I’m sure a lot of you will know me for my campaigning about the culture that existed at the former Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust, which resulted in two independent reviews, so you will know that health and everything connected to the NHS is incredibly important to me.
People have always been the focus of everything I do and that will continue in my new role here at Mersey Care. Over the next weeks and months, I want to meet as many of you as possible so that I can find out what matters to staff across all sites, and then really get stuck in making things better for everyone, staff and patients alike.
I will be happy to talk to any of you and you can also contact me on my new email, rosie
Once I’ve got to know some of you better and the issues that need addressing, I will write to you again and give you a better idea of what I plan to do with my time at Mersey Care. I want to make a difference as your chair and I can only do that if you help me and truly tell me what needs addressing.
I look forward to meeting you all
Regards
Rosie Cooper
Chair, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
