Our governance
Our governance
Our governance ensures that we are fulfilling our legal and statutory obligations. You can find out more about our governance and members below.
The Healthwatch Surrey service is run by Luminus Insight CIC, known as Luminus.
CIC is a “community interest company” which is a special form of non-charitable limited company, which exists primarily to benefit a community or with a view to pursuing a social purpose, rather than to make a profit for shareholders.
We have a Local Healthwatch Advisory Group, made up of volunteers who advise and support our Healthwatch Surrey Contract Manager and team about the priorities we work on and how we use our statutory powers. The Directors of Luminus Insight CIC Board hold overall accountability for all our services, including our Healthwatch Surrey service. Our Board meets in public on a quarterly basis.
How we make decisions as a local Healthwatch is covered by our Decision Making Policy.
Our upcoming Board Meetings in Public can be found on our events page.
Members of the public and press are welcome to attend. The agenda and papers relating to these meetings will be available below 5 working days before the meeting. If you would like to attend, please contact us. This is to help us ensure the meeting is fully accessible.
Questions from the public are welcome. If you would like to submit a question to the board please contact us. Please note that questions must be received no later than 24 hours before the meeting. Questions not covered on the day will be answered in writing.
Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960. Members of the Public and Press are entitled to attend these meetings although the Board reserves the right to exclude, by Resolution, the Press and Public wherever publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted or for other special reasons, stated in the Resolution.
Details of our previous Board Meetings in Public can also be found on our events page.
Our Local Healthwatch Advisory Group members
Deborah Mechaneck
Deborah is an MBA with over 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical, medical aesthetic, medical devices and health related not-for-profit sectors. She has worked for companies such as Glaxo Wellcome, Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Deborah’s career has included management and executive roles in sales and marketing, finance, strategic planning, customer relationship management, PR, public and government affairs and communications.
Deborah wanted to become part of Healthwatch Surrey because she is passionate about people having access to excellent healthcare and to the provision of accurate information, so that they can make informed choices about their own health or the health of the people they care for.
Deborah also volunteered with Macmillan at the Cancer Support Centre at East Surrey Hospital for the past 6 years and sits on their steering committee.
Joan Juniper
Laurence Oates
Laurence’s professional career was spent mainly as a lawyer in Government service. Between 1999 and 2006 he was appointed the Official Solicitor to the Supreme Court, in which role he represented in legal proceedings people without the mental capacity to act for themselves. During this time he was also the Public Trustee. As Official Solicitor he was involved in a number of legal cases involving end of life decisions, the most famous of which concerned the conjoined twins (“Jodie and Mary”) where the issue was whether to separate them in the knowledge that one would die as a consequence of the operation but with a view to securing that the other could live.
Laurence also helped develop some of the ideas in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and has contributed to a legal textbook on that Act. He retired at the end of 2006. Since then he has been a trustee, and currently chair, of Just Advocacy Ltd; he is also a Governor of Woking 6th Form College, and a trustee of the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability in Putney, The Grange Centre at Bookham for persons with disability, Citizens Advice Woking and Citizens Advice Surrey. Laurence lives with his wife in Woking, and has a son and daughter and 4 grandchildren.
Liz Sawyer
Through a career traversing 40 years across Manufacturing and IT and as a senior leader in a global corporation, Liz transformed practices and successfully established, integrated and streamlined services, embracing digital capabilities.
Since taking early retirement in 2017, Liz has undertaken volunteer roles with Citizens Advice, Carers UK and Healthwatch Surrey and was appointed an Independent Carers Lay co-Chair of the Surrey Carers Partnership Board. With Healthwatch Surrey, Liz applies her skills to amplify the public's voice and help influence local health and social care services. She helps champion improvements in sexual health services in Surrey and was highly commended in the ‘Outstanding individuals who’ve made a difference’ category at the 2019 Healthwatch Network Awards. Liz keeps a focus on outcomes for carers and equity of access to services for people living with Learning Disability.
Linda Smullen
Linda trained as a speech and language therapist. She worked clinically with children with special needs and dysphagia within the NHS for 40 years. She has always worked in Surrey, mainly in the East Surrey patch making sure that the children in the East receive their share of Surrey resources.
Latterly Linda was a Clinical Services Manager, managing Paediatric Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech and Language Therapy in East Surrey. Her work involved collaboration with other families and other agencies including Surrey County Council Educational Department, Social Services and Commissioners.
Attending a meeting with Healthwatch Surrey shortly before retiring gave Linda the idea that volunteering with Healthwatch Surrey would enable her to continue to engage with families and service users to advocate on their behalf, using skills garnered over a long career.
Linda retired in 2022 and has been with Healthwatch Surrey since then participating in engagement sessions, careers events, Enter and View sessions, PLACE assessments and the Reading Panel. She also volunteers at her local foodbank and newly opened pantry, and also with the National Trust at Box Hill as part of the visitor experience, welcoming people to Box Hill, advising them about walks and enjoying cuddles with the many doggy visitors. She also produces a monthly digital newsletter for a local charitable organisation.
Maria Millwood
Maria is passionate about the quality of health and care of people within Surrey and making sure that people are listened to and are involved in the design and delivery of service. Her drive and commitment to improving outcomes for health and care and reducing inequalities comes from a background of being a senior leader within finance, performance and commissioning, supporting Social Care and Health for a County Council and an Inner London Borough.
With over 35 years working in the public sector, operating at Board level across Local Government and the NHS Maria retired in 2016. She has been a volunteer for Healthwatch Surrey since 2017. She is skilled in listening and engaging with people and her insight and experience as a senior leader within social and health care means she is able to challenge & influence within the sector. She believes that amplifying the voice of people is key to driving improvements within services as is the importance of having an independent voice, which Healthwatch provide.