RADLETT MBE recipient Gill Balen is “thrilled and honoured” to be officially recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to health and the community in West Herts.
But a humble Gill said: “I don’t think I deserve it more than other people.”
Formerly a hospital pharmacist for 25 years, Gill, an Aldenham parish councillor since 2005, volunteered at Watford Hospital and was a founding member of the Red House patients group, which has recently folded.
The group, of which she became a chairman in 2006, was a patients’ participation group attached to the Red House Group of Surgeries, serving about 19,000 patients. Gill worked to ensure the highest standards of service and medical care were available to patients.
She has also been a member of the West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust’s patients’ panel since 2003, serving hospitals at Watford, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead.
Gill, the current panel chairman, has helped to ensure it is there to support patients and carers, and she has provided feedback and worked with hospital staff on issues raised by patients.
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