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.

Professor Margaret Rowe is the Dean for the School of Health & Society, University of Salford and Professor for Workforce Development. With 25 years of experience in UK Higher Education, 15 years of strategic leadership in the university sector and senior leadership roles in the NHS, Margaret has consistently integrated academic leadership with the external business environment; regionally, nationally and internationally. Margaret is a board member of the North West Regional People Board, Greater Manchester People Board and until January 2022 was a Governor of the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH). Joining the board at GMMH as a non-executive director is an absolute privilege and I look forward to working with an innovative team that puts patient care at the centre of its values.

Margaret has represented the University of Salford and Greater Manchester on many high-profile international tours to China and India, with the Rt. Hon Secretary for State for Health and most recently with the Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham; developing new partnerships and sharing expertise on workforce design.

Margaret has repositioned the School of Health & Society though reorganisation, becoming more externally focused, aligned to the principles of the industry collaboration agenda, leading on a number of partnerships in the NHS, Local Authorities, industry and internationally. In 2021, the University of Salford started working in partnership with Greater Manchester Police and UCLan developing and delivering policing apprenticeships.

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.

Neil started his career in the NHS in 1993 and has worked across many NHS sectors including acute care, primary care, the Cancer Network and the Strategic Health Authority. Neil is formally qualified in business and project management, attaining a Master’s in Business Administration at Manchester Business School. Neil joined our Trust in 2006 and was the Executive lead for the successful Foundation Trust application, planning, performance, quality account, tenders and business cases and was Director of Strategy / Deputy Chief Executive prior to his appointment to the Chief Executive role. He has a great deal of experience and a strong interest in service development, business planning, contracting, performance improvement and strategy.

 Alice’s careers spans almost 30 years within the NHS and she has worked a Consultant Psychiatrist in Later Life Services since 1999 with the former Bolton, Salford and Trafford Mental Health Services and latterly, Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.  This involved Alice working as an Inpatient Consultant at the Trust’s Woodlands Hospital, where she used her managerial and clinical skills to help reconfigure the Later Life services.  Alice was also Community Psychiatrist for Old Age within Bolton Mental Health Services – a role she has continued in, requiring her to work closely with service users, carers, a wide multidisciplinary team and partner agencies.

In 2017, Alice became the Trust’s Associate Medical Director for Rehabilitation, IAPT, Bolton and Salford.  It was here she developed collective and collaborative leadership with the Assistant Director of Operations via the network hub structure.  This involved oversight of performance, service development incident management.   She also uses this model within the medical leadership team.

Alice is an active participant in the North West Leadership Academy’s “Aspirant Talent Management Programme” and is a member of the North West Medical Directors’ Network. 

She has also been actively involved in developing the Trust’s Quality Improvement Strategy, particularly in the areas of rapid tranquilisation and the Mental Health Act.

Alice prides herself on doing what is right for service users, carers and the wider community, with the need to provide good, quality care at the heart of her decision-making.

  

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.

Gill joined us in 2011. Gill has extensive experience in delivering nursing care in both acute and community settings and joins us with experience in different NHS organisation including Clatterbridge Hospital in Bebington, James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, Barnsley Care Services Direct and South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust. She also works closely with third sector providers including experience of Trusteeships in that area.  She is particularly involved in nursing workforce education and nursing leadership across the Greater Manchester area.