Our Board of Directors operates according to the highest corporate governance standards. It is a unitary board and has a wide range of skills and experience. The non-executive directors have wide-ranging expertise and experience, including backgrounds in finance, primary care and education. The board considers that it is balanced and complete in its composition, appropriate to the requirements of the organisation and that each of its non-executive members is independent.
Mary was previously appointed as Deputy Chief Executive, having been our Chief Operating Officer prior to this. Mary worked in the private sector before moving into healthcare and has worked in acute provider organisations across Greater Manchester and Yorkshire. Her experience in working across both the private and public sector brings a strong focus on ensuring services are organised around the needs of the patient with the goal of improving cost and quality. Mary joined the flagship Nye Bevan Aspiring Director Leaders’ Programme and successfully completed the Executive Health Care Leadership Programme with the NHS Leadership Academy. She has studied social history and sociology and has a post graduate certificate in Managing Health and Social Care.
Richard is an experienced public servant who has spent the majority of his career in the health sector. He spent 25 years with the Department of Health across a range of policy, management and corporate disciplines. He has experience of leading large change processes and developing performance management and planning regimes, including his role as Project Manager on the 2000 NHS Plan. Richard was previously our Director of Strategy and Planning and continues to hold this portfolio.
Sanjay is a consultant cardiologist by background, with interests in coronary artery disease, heart failure, arrhythmia, syncope and cardiac assessment for non-cardiac surgery and professional footballers. Sanjay was appointed Honorary Professor in Health and Wellbeing at the University of Bolton and is also the Undergraduate Clinical Lead for Edge Hill University’s Medical School. This year he received an OBE for his contributions to black and minority ethnic doctors and healthcare in Greater Manchester.
Sarah was previously the Chief Operating Officer at Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Prior to this, she held roles in Strategic Delivery, Operations and Medicines Management with Bridgewater. A Pharmacist by background, Sarah has worked in several settings including community, hospital, industry and the military, spending periods of her career working in both Germany and Guernsey. She is passionate about improving patient care and growing and developing teams to facilitate this. She has a particular interest in children’s services and the links with public health and addressing health inequalities.
Tabitha brings a vast amount of knowledge and experience to the role having worked in NHS finance at various different Trusts in the North West. From 2019, Tabitha held the role of Director of Finance at the Rochdale Care Organisation, part of the Northern Care Alliance, where she delivered significant investment into the organisation as part of the Rochdale elective surgical offer. Prior to this, Tabitha spent eight years working as the Deputy Director of Finance for the NWest region of NHS England and during this time she led the financial management for Specialised Services which delivers numerous rare and complex services.
Kevin joined the Trust as Interim Chief Nurse in January 2024 from Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust where he was Deputy Chief Nurse from 2020. Kevin is a registered adult nurse and has had several clinical, operational, and senior leadership roles within his 20-year nursing career, and completed an MBA in 2023, he is also Chartered Manager (CMgr). Kevin has a passion to develop nursing, midwifery and AHP teams to be able to lead on the delivery of excellent patient and service user care, developing and utilising technology to support the care we deliver to release clinical teams ‘time to care’ to the bedside. He is also an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer for Edge Hill University.
Anne-Marie has 15 years’ experience in senior communications and engagement roles at NHS provider organisations across the North West. During this time, she led the complex communications and engagement for the merger of University Hospital of South Manchester NHS FT and Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS FT to create Manchester University NHS FT, the largest foundation trust in the country. Prior to joining the NHS, Anne-Marie held stakeholder engagement roles at UNITE Group plc and was Vice-President of Liverpool Students’ Union. Anne-Marie holds an Executive Award in Health Care Leadership following completion of the Nye Bevan programme and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
A Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Greater Manchester, Dame Robina brings great experience to the Trust, including a period as Chair of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and more recently as a Non-Executive Director and Acting Chair at Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust.
Dame Robina brings a clinical background to the role, as a Chartered Consultant Psychologist, and is currently a Professor of Medical Education and Psychosocial Medicine at Manchester University Medical School. She is the past President of the Council Section Medicine and Society of the Royal Society of Medicine, and an Honorary Fellow of both the Royal College of General Practitioners, and the Royal Society of Medicine.
Francine is a physiotherapist by background and until March 2021 was the Director of Quality and Innovation at Salford Clinical Commissioning Group. She brings significant experience of working at board level as well as the development of integrated health and care services. Over the past 12 months she has been leading some work around mortality reviews to understand the impact of COVID-19 on widening inequalities and how this can be minimised. As well as her commissioning expertise, she has experience of working across both acute and community health services.
Rhona has 25 years’ experience in the criminal justice system with the National Probation Service in Greater Manchester and Cheshire and in local government in the region, where she undertook director-level roles in children and family services. She has recently retired after 14 years as the Chief Executive of the charity ADS, Addiction Dependency Solutions, which has provided innovative substance misuse services for almost 50 years. Rhona continues her involvement with the charity as a trustee of the board. Before joining ADS, Rhona was seconded by HM Inspectorate of Probation to work for what is now the Care Quality Commission as a service inspector, conducting multiagency statutory inspections of Youth Offending Teams and local authority children’s services. Rhona was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater Manchester in 2010.
Clare is Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine at Edge Hill University, the trust’s university medical school. Prior to this, she was Associate Dean for Research and Innovation and Director of the Edge Hill University Medical School. Clare holds a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology and has worked in a number of different North West Universities.
Julie has worked in senior roles across the public sector, including local government, housing, regeneration, policing and education and was most recently a Chief Officer at Cheshire Constabulary, taking the lead on Business Services for Cheshire Police as part of the Chief Constable’s leadership team. She has many years of experience at board level covering finance, commercial and property management, change and digital strategy and HR workforce planning, across the various roles. Prior to working with the police, she has held Director of Resources roles at Cheshire West and Stoke councils, as well as wide ranging roles within the education sector and a national housing provider.
Simon was previously the Chief Finance Officer, and Deputy Chief Executive, for the Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust. He has held many senior posts within the NHS, including being the first Chief Executive of NHS Property Services, a national organisation, based in London and responsible to the Department of Health, with over 4,000 buildings, and employing 3,000 people, from its establishment in 2012, up until 2015. Simon joined the NHS as an Apprentice at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, aged 18, and has over 40 years NHS finance experience. He has subsequently mainly undertaken a number of Finance Director roles both in Commissioning and Provider organisations. Simon is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA), and also a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS).
Mary is a retired Executive Chief Nurse having spent 44 years on an NHS career trajectory from Bedside to Board. Mary’s experience was primarily in acute settings until commencing national improvement roles with the Department of Health and Social Care from 2000 – 2010. Returning to NHS acute and commissioning organisations in her executive roles in recent years. Mary has chosen to enthusiastically continue with leadership roles post-retirement in Non-Executive and Interim Executive roles and is delighted to join the WWL family.
Mark is an accomplished leader with extensive experience in healthcare, housing, and education sectors. As the previous Cheshire East Place Director, Mark oversaw health integration to enhance care across the Cheshire and Merseyside region. His governance roles include Non-Executive Director positions with Mastercall Healthcare and Bolton at Home, and Edge Hill University, where he drives strategic and patient/student centred improvements. Previously Mark has held senior NHS roles, such as Executive Director of Planning and Performance at Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board as well as commissioning Chief Executive roles, managing major budgets, performance, and strategic transformations and his career is marked by a commitment to innovation, community impact, and operational excellence. Born and raised in Stockport, Mark now lives near Ormskirk and is delighted to have secured this opportunity at his local NHS organisation helping to shape the services he and his family depend on.