Our Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors sets the overall strategic direction for the Trust and is collectively responsible for monitoring all aspects of performance, providing financial stewardship and ensuring the provision of high quality, safe and effective services.

The Executive Directors manage the day to day operational running of the organisation, whilst the Non-Executive Directors are focused on challenging the Executive Team on management and strategy. The Non-Executive Directors do not hold any managerial responsibility, but are accountable with the Executive Directors for the Trust’s performance. The contribution of Non-Executive Directors, and their relationships with Executive Directors and governors, is facilitated by the Chair.

All of our Non-Executive Directors are considered to be independent, as they have not been employed previously by the Trust and do not have any financial or other business interest in the organisation.  Pauleen Lane is our Senior Independent Director.

Details of our Board meetings, Agenda and Papers are available on this page  Board Meetings

The Committees of our Board of Directors are:

• Audit Committee
• Commissioning Committee
• Finance and Investment Committee
• Quality Improvement Committee
• Workforce Development Committee
• Charitable Funds Committee
• Remuneration and Terms of Service Committee

You can find out more about the work of these committees in the Trust’s Annual Report.

The Board works closely with our Council of Governors to enable the governors to carry out their statutory duties. Governors’ views are sought on the Trust’s forward plans and the Board also provides feedback on the Trust’s undertakings and performance.

Our Council of Governors provide local accountability by representing the interests of members and partner organisations. The Board of Directors retains overall responsibility for decision-making, except where the Council of Governors has statutory responsibilities.

Members of the Board of Directors can be contacted via communications@gmmh.nhs.uk or 0161 773 9121.

Our Constitution contains more detailed information on how the Board and Council of Governors operate.

Bill was previously the Senior Independent Director of Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, since April 2022. Prior to that Bill was NHS Regional Director in the North West, before he retired in 2021. His previous roles include Director of Policy for NHS England, Chief Executive at NHS Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority, Deputy Vice Chancellor at University of Bradford, Chair of Bradford Teaching Hospitals, Chief Executive City of York Council, and Director General in the Department of Health.

Andrea is a qualified chartered accountant with over 20 years business and financial experience in the private sector and is currently leading a large transformation programme for the R and D division of a major pharmaceutical company. Andrea brings a wealth of experience in strategic & operational planning, performance management, merger & acquisition integration and change management.

Andrea is Chair of the Audit Committee.

Pauleen is currently Group Manager for National Infrastructure at the Planning Inspectorate since 2012 and a visiting lecturer at Manchester University since 2010.  

She has a PhD in numerical modelling and geotechnical engineering and an early career in local governments (in officer and councillor positions - Trafford Councillor (1994-2012)), and as a commissioner with the Audit Commission. 

She has experience in a range of public sector non-executive roles including non-executive director at Liverpool Women’s Hospital (2010 – 2016), board member at the Sports Ground Safety Authority (2008 – 2016) and previously as non-executive director with the North West Development Agency, English Partnerships, Tenant Services Authority and the Coal Authority.

Pauleen is Senior Independent Director and a member of the Audit Committee.

Helen is recently retired. Prior to retirement, Helen most recently worked at executive level at NHS Improvement (NHSI) North (2015 to 2018) as Regional Nurse Director and Delivery and Improvement Director, where she had oversight of the safety, quality and financial sustainability of provider trusts and also supported trusts with their   quality improvement agendas. Helen joined NHSI from Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH) where she held progressive roles including Director of Mental Health (2002 to 2005), Director of Operations (2005 to 2008), Acting Chief Executive Officer (2008 to 2009) and Deputy CEO/Director of Nursing and Partnerships (2009 to 2015). During her time at RDaSH, Helen also held a number of additional roles including Specialist/Clinical Advisor to CHI/Healthcare Commission/Care Quality Commission (CQC) and National Taskforce Advisor to the Better Care Fund.

Helen’s early career began with clinical nursing posts (general and mental health) (1984 to 1991), prior to progression to senior management roles in provider organisations (1991 to 2002). Helen holds professional dual registration as a nurse.

Helen is a member of the Trust's Quality Improvement Committee.

Saleem Chowdhery is a Chartered Accountant and an audit/finance professional with many years advising and supporting Boards of directors within large and complex organisations. He has worked at the Co-op Group since 2015 and is presently the Director of Risk and Internal Audit and a Co-Chair of RISE, the colleague network that supports Black, Asian and ethnic minorities colleagues.  He is also a Trustee at Unity Medical Foundation - a medical charity that funds cataract operations for people overseas.  In February 2022, he stepped down as a Trustee and Chair of the Audit, Risk & Finance Committee at the Co-op Foundation, a Manchester based Charity, which supports young people experiencing loneliness and mental health issues.

Previously Saleem has held roles with Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc, BAA plc, KPMG and others. He brings to the Board his experience of corporate governance, risk management, business transformation, IT change and finance.

Stewart Lucas is currently the GM System Lead for the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Integration for mental health. He is instrumental in developing the role of VCSE and relationships with Primary Care Networks within Greater Manchester and localities. He has been a member of the Greater Manchester Health & Social Care Partnership Executive Board for the last four years and has contributed to the development of the mental health governance structures across the city region. He has also held several roles at Mind including Strategic Lead for Greater Manchester, Chair of Network Futures and Chief Executive of Lancashire Mind. Stewart is currently an Appointed Governor at GMMH retiring on his appointment as a NED.

 

Atiha Chaudry has 25 years’ experience within the public, voluntary and community sectors and has worked for a range of organisations including the National Association of Local Government Women’s Committees, Newcastle City Council, and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies. She has also held the role of Lay Member at Manchester Health and Care Commissioning, where she chaired the Patient and Public Advisory Committee. She is a member of various other committees including Quality Improvement & Performance, Strategy and Audit, Finance and Governance. She is also a Trustee of the Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Services.

Murray was a GP in Birkenhead for over 35 years. He retired from Practice in March 2021. He has been a Non-Executive director since 2012, initially with Wirral Health and Care Trust, and then with Mersey Care NHS Trust from 2018 until 2023. He is passionate about the quality and safety of care provided to people with mental illness. Murray is committed to the safety and wellbeing of staff. 

He has been involved in a wide range of NHS organisations and committees including:

Specialist Adviser – Care Quality Commission (2014 -2020)

GP Executive Board Member – Wirral Health Commissioning Consortium  2010 - 2012  

Lead for Cancer & End of Life Care – NHS Wirral / Merseyside & Cheshire Cancer Network (1999 – 2010) 

Medical Director – Wirral Community Healthcare NHS Trust (1994 – 1996)

Chair -Wirral Local Medical Committee 1990 -1992  

He is a Trustee of Oak Trees Multi Academy Trust on Wirral and YPAS (Young Persons Advisory Service) in Liverpool.

Jan joined GMMH in July 2023 as Chief Executive.

She is an experienced strategic leader and has been a Chief Executive since 2012. She has held a wide variety of clinical and operational roles in health, social care, and the private sector, in the UK and Canada. Jan has a wealth of expertise in cultural change, transformation, clinical quality, and effective performance management, which she uses to drive her passion to ensure service users and their families receive high quality care and that staff enjoy coming to work.

Jan is a dual-qualified nurse in both mental and physical health.

Arasu joined GMMH in September 2023 from Livewell Southwest which is a recognised provider of integrated health and social care services, and where he held the post of Medical Director. Before this he was Deputy Medical Director for Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust.

As well as these posts, Arasu has the role of Consultant Psychiatrist and has worked in the NHS since 2003. He has a wealth of experience in mental health as well as acute care, commissioning and community services including primary care.

John has worked in the NHS over 30 years qualifying as a Registered General Nurse in the early 1990s. John has worked in clinical and managerial roles across acute care and community health care services.

Liz joined GMMH in 2019 from the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group, where she held the post of Deputy Director of Strategy and Planning and provided strategic leadership and support to key programmes of work.  Since joining the NHS as a Graduate Management Trainee in 1994, Liz has worked in senior roles across the North West of England including commissioning, community, acute and tertiary organisations.  As an Economics graduate with an MA from University of Manchester, Liz has extensive experience in strategic change, significant transactions, service developments, contracting, tenders, planning and operational management.  Recent roles have included working with partners to establish the first Integrated Care Organisation in the country and the national proton therapy service at The Christie. 

Andrew has worked in senior HR positions across a broad range of NHS sectors. From 2000 to 2004 he worked as the Assistant Director of HR for Sefton Health Authority and Sefton Primary Care Trust working on HR change management projects that supported the establishment of PCTs across Sefton. In 2004, Andrew joined The Walton Centre NHS Trust as Director of HR and was part of the executive team that led the organisation to Foundation Trust status. In 2009 Andrew joined our Trust as Director of HR and Governance and he has more recently taken on wider responsibility for capital development, estates, facilities and corporate governance. Andrew also undertakes two national roles as an NHS Employers representative on the Social Partnership Forum and the NHS Staff Council.

Suzanne Robinson joined GMMH in August 2020 as Director of Finance and IM&T. 

With almost 20 years of experience working at a senior level within large acute and specialist providers as well as commissioning organisations in the North West of England, Suzanne has held the role of Director of Finance at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust.  Previous to this, she held roles of Director of Finance, Performance and Digital at North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust and Finance Director of Staffordshire Stoke-on-Trent Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP).

Suzanne serves as Chair of the Health Financial Management Association (HFMA) Mental Health Finance Faculty and she is also Senior Responsible Officer for the Future Focused Finance Valuemakers Programme which represents over 2000 finance staff across the country.

You can follow Suzanne on Twitter @suzanneFINANCE

Maria joins us from her current role as Chief Nurse and Quality Officer at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT), where she has worked since 2019. 

Maria’s extensive knowledge and patient-focused leadership has been widely recognised and, in May 2021, she received the highest recognition from the Chief Nurse for England.