Hazel lives in Bassetlaw. Born in Plymouth, and brought up in a small rural town in Devon, Hazel now lives in rural Bassetlaw and is aware of the  benefits but also the problems of rural communities: housing, transport, schools, access to top-quality healthcare and leisure facilities, and so on. She has lived in Misterton since 1995, moving there after training, living, and working in London and Bedfordshire for many years. 

She trained as an occupational therapist and spent a considerable part of her working life in the NHS, to which she is passionately committed. She has also worked in community services - and, in a change of career, as a photographer then health journalist, and in health public relations. She worked for Doncaster & Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for 18 years in corporate communications, and is now retired. She is a public governor for the Trust's Bassetlaw constituency first elected in 2013.​

Hazel was elected as District Councillor for the Misterton Ward in 2010 and has been re-elected at each election since. She is also a parish councillor, and was chairman for nine years. She is a Governor at Misterton Primary & Nursery School.

She writes a weekly news column on village affairs for the local media, and produces a monthly community magazine.

She goes long-distance walking when she can - for three years, she raised money for cancer research by doing Race for Life. Since then, she has done a number of sponsored walks, raising money for the Labour Ward's family unit Bassetlaw Hospital (2015) and Ward A4 (2016); cancer care and Misterton Parish Church's organ appeal (2017); and, most recently (a walk that started in 2018 and will be finished in 2019/20) for dementia care and the village medical practice's equipment fund.

Hazel applied to join the Citizen's Panel to ensure the rural voice was heard - but also to use her experience in helping to get the message across about that very complex topic - health.

Fiona retired in 2017 after 26 years working for Doncaster Council in Organisational Development, and before that was a project manager and teacher. While her children were at the local primary school she was a member of the local Home School Association and has been an active Marie Curie fund raiser and Dementia Friend for 11 years. 

She has a lot of links to the NHS, starting from early childhood experiences to later personal and family health challenges. A number of family members have worked long term in the NHS and so it has always been part of her life. 

After retiring she was attracted to be part of the Citizens’ Panel as it was an opportunity to use her time productively, influence decisions and give something back.  She joined the Citizens Panel in April 2018 as one of the Doncaster panellists and is enjoying working with the other members and being a voice for Doncaster. 

Abigail is studying a healthcare based degree at the University of Sheffield. Having a year out from university due to health problems allowed her to experience many of the broad range of healthcare services in Sheffield and motivated her to help with the improvement of them by becoming a member of the Citizen’s Panel.

She works with Healthwatch Sheffield as a Community Engagement Volunteer, being involved in projects such as the recent Public Insight Project, to understand which areas of health and social care the people of Sheffield would like to see most improvements in. For several years, she also volunteered with a charity which provided employment and training for people with learning disabilities and have also volunteered for a year at St Luke’s hospice.

Joan lives in Bassetlaw and is a widow, mother, grandmother and friend. She is a town councillor for Tuxford, a member of the Tuxford patient participation group and volunteers and helps in her local community. She attends the chair PPG meetings at Retford Hospital and is a member of Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Joan is also an umpire in her local ladies rounders team.

In her working life she was an account manager and says her career taught her to fact find, listen, analyse needs and offer recommendations; all strengths that equip her for her role in the Citizens’ Panel.

Joan’s experience supporting her husband while undergoing treatment in the NHS in more recent years prompted her to get more involved and ensure that patients and their carers are heard.

Phill lives in Barnsley. He is originally from Leeds and has lived in Barnsley for just over 20 years. He is a retired civil servant, working across a range of departments for around 40 years. In the latter 25 years of his career he worked in the Department of Health (DH) HQ working in both Leeds and London.

Phill’s role in DH was to support health Ministers in being held to account by both Parliament and the public on local NHS issues across the country. He has continued to take an active interest in the NHS as a service user and in a voluntary capacity with Barnsley Hospital in a number of roles. He joined the Citizen Panel to maintain his interest in the NHS and to represent Barnsley people.

Phill is married and has a daughter. His hobbies include reading and he is also an officer of Barnsley & District FA. 

Originally from West Sussex, Mary now lives in Bassetlaw. She has spent her entire career working in the NHS, primarily with a provider of services but also more recently in commissioning. She was seconded to work for an NHS Quality Improvement Team looking at services and ensuring the Trust services provided, met a good  quality of care standard.

Mary studied at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, graduating with a degree in speech sciences which enabled her to work as a Speech and Language Therapist in the NHS. Her main area of work was working with adults with acquired communication difficulties and more recently with people with dementia. She has many years’ experience of supporting those who struggle to communicate their needs, requirements and wishes effectively.

She is now a Parish Councillor and also Chair of her local GP’s patient participation group. She loves to travel and has been to a lot of faraway places. She also has two dogs which keep her busy.

Mary applied to become a panel member as she retired earlier than expected from the NHS due to ill health but felt she still had more to offer and a lot of experience to influence, albeit in a different role. She has experience of working with patients and public from her time in commissioning and this together with her recent first-hand experience of being a patient in the NHS, she is well prepared for her volunteer role.

Brenda is married and lives in Barnsley. She has extensive work experience in customer service design and delivery, working across many different industries. These include the set up and delivery of health services as well as home care service delivery. She is used to the challenges of designing and delivering critical services and the challenges of operating within restricted budgets.

Brenda has also been a Trustee of a youth homeless charity.

She is passionate about the NHS and the need to help support and protect it, as she says “we come to rely on in times of need”. She chose to become a citizen panel member to help make a contribution.

Mohammed lives in Rotherham. His biography is coming soon.

Carol lives in Sheffield. Her biography is coming soon.