Our Board

Martin was appointed Chair of the Trust in November 2023.

Martin started his career in the NHS as a trainee hospital administrator. In 1983, he commissioned and opened East Surrey Hospital and, in 1986, moved into general management with responsibility for the East Surrey Learning Disability and the mental health services, transforming the services from being institutional-based to community-based, leading the unit to become an NHS Trust in 1994, when he became its Chief Executive. He subsequently went on to serve four more Trusts (Nottingham Healthcare NHS Trust, Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust, Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, and Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust) as Chief Executive, up to his retirement in 2021. His career is characterised by leading service modernisation, quality improvement, and organisational development. Since his retirement, Martin has undertaken voluntary work for the charity Zarach, supports Yorkshire Cancer Research, and is a Governor of Leeds Beckett University.

Clare has worked at Leeds Teaching Hospitals since January 2014 and has been the Chief Operating Officer (COO) since December 2018 and Deputy Chief Executive since 2023.

Prior to joining the Trust, she worked as an Acute Trust Divisional General Manager in Scotland and has previously worked in the Armed Forces and within Local Authorities in education.

Clare is responsible for leadership and delivery of the Trust’s operational services, ensuring high quality care and delivery of performance standards through our Clinical Service Units. She is also the Accountable Emergency Officer for the Trust.

Clare is also the Chair of the West Yorkshire Associate of Acute Trusts COO group and the Senior Responsible Officer for Urgent and Emergency Care Transformation for the West Yorkshire ICS.

Richard dedicated nearly 40 years to the NHS before retiring in June 2024. He began his medical career after qualifying as a doctor in Cardiff in 1987, choosing to specialise in Rheumatology. Richard completed his specialist training in Yorkshire, including 18 months as a Senior Registrar in York, and finished his training in 1998.

He was appointed to his first Consultant post in August 1998, working across Leeds and Huddersfield. In 2010, Richard joined County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust as a Consultant, later moving to Newcastle upon Tyne in 2019 to further his career.

Throughout his career, Richard was committed to clinical excellence and delivering the highest quality care to his patients. He embraced innovation in care delivery and was actively involved in clinical research, particularly in imaging and the therapeutic effects of drug interventions in inflammatory arthritis.

Richard also pursued leadership roles, serving as Departmental Lead and Clinical Director at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust. His move to Newcastle allowed him to devote more time to clinical teaching at the Medical School, sharing his expertise with the next generation of doctors.

Julie Charge has worked at the University of Salford since 2014, originally as the Executive Director of Finance, but has most recently taken up the role of Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer.

Julie oversees the professional services of the University, including Finance, Strategy, Estates, Digital IT, Student services and Marketing.

Julie qualified as an accountant in 1995, completing her Master’s in Business Administration in 2009. she has over 30 years of experience working in Finance. She’s worked in a variety of Public and Private sectors including Health, Manufacturing and Higher Education.

Claire was appointed as Chief Operating Officer for the Trust in July 2023.

As Chief Operating Officer, Claire is responsible for the leadership and delivery of the Trust’s operational services and is the lead executive director for Strategic Planning.

Claire began her career in the Strategic Health Authority undertaking statistical analysis before moving to Clinical Audit in secondary care.  Her career was in Northern Lincolnshire & Goole NHS Foundation Trust where she worked for over 20 years across many of the specialities spanning hospital and community services, culminating as Deputy Chief Operating Officer.  For the two years prior to joining York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust Claire was Programme Director for the Humber Acute Services Review which developed a pre-consultation business case for services across Hull University Teaching Hospitals and Northern Lincolnshire & Goole NHS Foundation Trust and the 4 Places of North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, Hull and East Riding.  Claire has also been involved in workforce design with the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board and wider system and is a qualified 360 Facilitator.

She brings with her experience as a leader in both system working, operational delivery and strategic planning, and is passionate about ensuring patients and staff are at the heart of sustainable service design.

Polly became Director of Workforce and Organisational Development in February 2019.

She joined the Trust in September 2015 as Deputy Director of Workforce reporting into the Chief Executive.  Her portfolio includes Human Resources, Organisational Development, Workforce Development, Occupational Health, Research and Equality and Diversity.

After graduating from Durham University in 2000, Polly began her career in Financial Services.  In 2002 she joined the NHS working for Great Ormond Street Hospital, where she trained in Human Resource Management.  Polly joined Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust in 2009 and progressed to Deputy Director of Workforce and Organisational Development before she left in 2015.

Polly is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.

Declaration of interests
Nil

As Chief Digital and Information Officer James leads digital transformation of the Trust integrating with the Humber and North Yorkshire ICS.

He is responsible for the delivery of the strategic digital capabilities required to underpin new models of care provided across the Trust and the integrated care system.

James is also responsible for the delivery and maintenance of our digital infrastructure and providing assurance to both Trust and ICS board in this regard, which includes assurances around cyber security, service continuity and information governance.

James joined the Trust from NHS Digital where he had several different roles on the executive team and was central to the delivery of many of the national NHS IT systems and services and commercial frameworks, such as the NHS App, NHS.UK, NHS 111, NHS Summary Care Records and the GP IT Commercial Framework to name a few.

Declaration of interests
Member – Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society

Jenny was appointed as a non-executive director in 2017.

Jenny is a qualified chartered accountant and brings over 30 years’ experience gained of the private, public and charitable sectors.  From 1997 until her retirement in October 2016 she was chief executive at The Retreat psychiatric hospital in York.  She also has extensive non-executive experience.

Declaration of interests
Independent Member of Audit Committee, York St John University
Member of Court, University of York

Lorraine was appointed as a non-executive director of the Trust in 2018.

Lorraine is a GP and brings 30 years’ of experience of direct patient care.

In recent years Lorraine has been involved as GP representative within NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group and The Humber, Coast and Vale Sustainability and Transformation Partnership.  She is the founder directory of City and Vale GP Alliance and she has supported the development of collaborative working between the Trust and primary care.

Declaration of interests
Trustee – Friends of St Monica

Helen is a solicitor and spent her executive career in the private sector as General Counsel and Group Secretary of large, complex listed companies and latterly at the Co-op Group. The majority of her career was spent in consumer-facing organisations going through periods of significant change and having executive responsibility for legal, compliance, governance, risk, audit and corporate affairs functions. Her roles also involved extensive stakeholder engagement.

Since stepping away from her executive career she has concentrated on non-executive roles with a focus on education, community, well-being and the natural environment. She has a strong commitment to supporting diverse and inclusive organisations.

She is a Council member at the University of Leeds, where she chairs their remuneration committee. She also chairs the Yorkshire and North-East Advisory Board at the Canal and River Trust which provides green and blue spaces in communities across the region.

As the Managing Director of York Teaching Hospitals Facilities Management (YTHFM) LLP, Chris leads the estates and facilities services, capital development, medical engineering, and sustainability efforts for the Trust. His primary focus is to ensure the maintenance of a safe, compliant, and clean estate for all.

Chris’s journey began in the private sector as a Chartered Civil Engineer, where he had the opportunity to deliver infrastructure projects in the water industry and airports. This experience laid the foundation for his transition into the health sector, where he contributed to capital projects for Leeds Teaching Hospitals and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, delivering major service improvement projects.

Chris embarked on his NHS career at Hull & East Yorkshire Hospitals, spending 12 years working across capital, estates, and facilities services. This diverse experience eventually led him to the role of Estates Director at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, where he delivered a service redesign programme and produced and delivered the estates strategy.

Throughout his career, Chris has gained valuable insights into system working, operational delivery, and strategic planning. He is passionate about fostering a culture of compassion, collaboration, and excellence, ensuring that both patients and staff are at the centre of every decision.