Non-Executive Directors

Shan joined the Trust as Chair on 1 April 2022. She has a wealth of experience from her career working in a variety of roles in both the Foreign Office and the home Civil Service. Her early experience was in policy work on social affairs issues at national and international levels. She was HM Ambassador to Argentina and Paraguay, and has represented the UK in the European Union and the UN system. In her previous role, Shan was head (Permanent Secretary) of the Civil Service of the Welsh Government in Cardiff and led over 5,500 staff with responsibility for a budget of £17bn. Shan was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (DCMG) in the Queen’s 2017 Birthday Honours.  She has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from the University of Kent (where she studied French) and the University of Plymouth.

Key Roles:

• Chair, Board of Directors and Council of Governors

Membership of Board sub-committees:

• Remuneration Committee – member

Attendance at other key Trust committees:

• Governance Committee (not a member but attends)

• Nominations Committee - Chair

• Patient Experience Committee (not a member but attends)

Carole joined the Trust in June 2021. She retired from Plymouth City Council in 2019 after 40 years of local government experience. She started her career as a social worker in Plymouth, became a human resources professional and ended as strategic director for people which covered the statutory roles of director of children’s services and adult services. Carole has worked with partners in health to lead the transformation of social care in Plymouth and delivered a pioneering project to deliver the integration of commissioning with NEW Devon CCG and an integrated community health and social care services in Livewell Southwest. She worked in a range of senior leadership roles across the Council and led a wide range of services including Corporate Services, Refuse collection, Culture, Sport and Leisure, Community Safety and Housing as well as the Children’s and Adults Services. Carole was awarded an MBE for services to children and young people in June 2017. Married and living in Plymouth, Carole is a Trustee of Transforming Futures Multi Academy Trust and a Co-opted Governor of Thornbury Primary School.

Carole Chairs the Patient Experience Committee and is a member of the Audit, Governance and Finance and Operations Committees.

Key Roles:

• Lead Non-Executive Director for Patient Experience

Membership of Board sub-committees:

• Charity Sub-Committee – member
• Finance and Operational Committee - member
• Governance Committee – member
• Patient Experience Committee – Chair
• Remuneration Committee – member

Attendance at other key Trust committees:

• RDUH and University of Exeter Strategy Board member

Bridie joined the Trust in June 2021. Bridie is a registered nurse, with a background in both clinical and academic appointments, resulting in extensive experience in leadership, quality improvement, practice change, health services education and implementation research. She has held a number of senior academic positions, including head of school and executive dean at the University of Plymouth.

For the last 20 years, she has played a leading role in evidence-based practice uptake and implementation in the UK, New Zealand and Australia, working to enhance the transfer of evidence into practice, and improve quality of care for patients.

Bridie is a member of the Audit, Governance and Charity Committees and is Chair of the Organ Donation Committees in the north and eastern services.

Key Roles:

• Lead Non-Executive Director for End of Life Care
• Lead Non-Executive Director for Freedom to Speak Up and Whistleblowing

Membership of Board sub-committees:

• Audit Committee – member
• Charity Sub-Committee – member
• Governance Committee – member
• Remuneration Committee – member

Attendance at other key Trust committees:

• End of Life Steering Group – member
• Organ Donation Group – Chair

Steve joined the Trust in September 2017. Following a period in the NHS, he worked internationally in health, running hospitals before moving to consulting. As a partner at KPMG and then Ernst & Young (EY), he has consulted to a wide range of government and health organisations both in the UK and overseas. He has worked at all levels on a wide variety of health projects and programmes, including large system reorganisations, regulatory issues, and ‘at the coal face’ helping to develop services or dealing with failing organisations. He was one of the two EY partners who undertook the administration of Mid Staffs NHS FT.

Steve was appointed as vice-chair in April 2022 and Chairs the Trusts Finance and Operations Committee and Our Future Hospitals Board.

Key Roles:

• Vice Chair, Board of Directors and Council of Governors
• Lead Non-Executive Director for Freedom to Speak Up Guardians
• Lead Non-Executive Director for Ockenden (maternity – Exeter and community sites)

Membership of Board sub-committees:

• Finance and Operations Committee – Chair
• Governance Committee – member
• Remuneration Committee – Vice Chair

Attendance at other key Trust committees:

• Chair, Our Future Hospitals Board

Martin joined the Trust in November 2022. Martin has been a GP for over 30 years, including 10 years as a GP partner in Exeter and most recently serving some of the most deprived communities in East London. He originally began his career as a junior doctor at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (Wonford) and has relocated back to Devon. He has significant experience as a board member, having been a non-executive director for the Care Quality Commission, the Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, medical director and director of research and development at the Health Foundation, and deputy chief medical officer at the Department of Health. He has led programmes at the major academic health science network UCL partners and is currently chair of the Nuffield Trust, an independent think-tank which aims to improve the quality of healthcare in the UK through research and policy analysis.

Martin Chairs the Governance Committee and is a member of Audit and Patient Experience Committees.

Key Roles:

• Lead Non-Executive Director for Freedom to Speak Up and Whistleblowing

Membership of Board Committees:

• Audit Committee – member
• Governance Committee – Chair
• Patient Experience Committee - member
• Remuneration Committee – member

Alastair joined the Trust in October 2018. He has broad strategic financial and commercial experience gained in both the private and public sectors. He was chief financial officer at the University of Plymouth for five years until November 2020. Prior to that he spent eight years as finance director and deputy CEO at the University of Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. He has been finance director at Ordnance Survey, including being a member of HMT's Financial Reporting Advisory Board, and spent 6 years as VP finance and administration at Computer Sciences Corporation.

He qualified and worked with Price Waterhouse in Bristol and then Southampton on a broad range of assignments across many sectors.

Alastair is the Chair of the Trust’s Audit Committee, Charity Committee and Integration Programme Board.

Membership of Board sub-committees:

• Audit Committee – Chair
• Charity Sub-Committee – Chair
• Integration Programme Board – Chair
• Remuneration Committee – member

Attendance at other key Trust committees:

• Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) steering group - member
• Governance Committee (not a member but attends)

Tim joined the Trust on 1 November 2023.  He has a strong record in senior university and Board positions, alongside his experience in academic leadership, including 12 years as a Deputy Vice-Chancellor.  Tim has experience of organisational transformation, innovation and building and embedding an inclusive and nurturing culture in organisations.  This sits alongside his track record of governance and assurance experience.  Tim is a NED for the NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, Chair of AIM Community, an educational charity, Governor of the University for the Creative Arts, and an independent reviewer for the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education.

Tim is a member of the Audit, Charity, Digital and Patient Experience Committees.

Membership of Board Committees:

• Audit Committee – member
• Charity Committee - member
• Digital Committee – member
• Patient Experience Committee - member
• Remuneration Committee – member

Attendance at other key Trust committees:

• Inclusion Steering Group - member

Tony joined the Trust on 1 April 2022, having served as a NED at Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust since January 2016. Tony has a background as a management consultant in IT and business consultancy with a particular focus on organisational visioning, development and change with previous extensive Board level experience with BT and Fujitsu. He has worked locally with each of the South West Local Authorities and a number of third sector organisations, chiefly as an interim manager and leading/supporting business turn around and change.

Tony is the Senior Independent Director (SID) and Chairs the Digital Committee and is a member of the Governance Committee.

Key Roles:

• Lead Non-Executive Director for Freedom to Speak Up Guardians
• Lead Non-Executive Director for Ockenden (maternity – Barnstaple and community sites)
• Senior Independent Director and remove the Lead NED for Freedom to Speak Up Guardians

Membership of Board sub-committees:

• Digital Committee – Chair
• Governance Committee – Vice Chair
• Remuneration Committee – Chair

Attendance at other key Trust committees:

• Nominations Committee – member (when considering matters related to the Chair of the Trust)