Executive Directors

Kevin McNamara, Chief Executive

Kevin was appointed Chief Executive at the end of March 2020, having acted up into this role since June 2019.

He has worked for the NHS since 2003, joined the Trust in 2009, and was appointed as Director of Strategy and Community Services in 2013.

During this time, Kevin has overseen the Trust move from being a stand-alone secondary care provider to an integrated secondary, community and primary care organisation. 

As Chief Executive, Kevin led the Trust's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

He is committed to increasing the quality of care provided to patients, integrating services where possible to provide a better patient experience, and ensuring staff are well-supported and recognised for their efforts.

Felicity Taylor-Drewe,
Chief Operating Officer

Felicity joined the Trust as Chief Operating Officer in August 2021 from Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where she was Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Divisional Director for Surgery. 

She has a strong track record of strategically leading the delivery of the clinical services and standards, including Referral to Treatment, Cancer, Diagnostics, Outpatients and Theatres optimisation. 

Felicity is passionate about improving pathways of care for patients and will take forward our work to integrate services more closely across, community, primary and secondary care, with a real focus on health inequalities.

Jon Westbrook,
Chief Medical Officer

Jon joined the Trust as Medical Director in September 2021

His consultant medical career was at Oxford University Hospitals, where he was a specialist in Neuro-anaesthesia and Neuro-intensive care for over 25 years.

He was also one of the Oxford Divisional Directors for eight years leading many services including core and specialist clinical teams. 

Jon's focus is on the delivery of high quality and safe patient care both in the Trust and across the wider health system.

Jude Gray, Chief People Officer

Jude became the Trust's Director of Human Resources in July 2019.

In this role she is responsible for all aspects of workforce planning, sustainability and health and wellbeing.

She oversees the recruitment of staff and managing strategic staffing planning and will serve as a link between the Trust and its employees. Jude previously worked for the BBC and Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service.

Lisa Cheek,
Chief Nurse

Lisa joined the Trust in March 2021 from Royal United Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Bath as Chief Nurse, with a range of skills and experience from her previous roles.

She is focused on driving continuous improvement, further engaging with colleagues across the NHS and other partner organisations to roll-out the Trust's improvement plans at a system level. 

Lisa believes that high quality care should be our priority at all times. She plays a key role in streamlining and integrating processes and supporting staff to recognise areas for positive change and implementing these changes. 

Claire Thompson,
Chief Improvement and Partnerships Officer

Claire joined the Trust in April 2021 with extensive NHS experience as a Divisional Director, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Director of Commissioning including leading on patient flow and working with partners on system-wide performance. Most recently she led the system Covid-19 vaccination programme in Bristol.

Claire leads our Trust improvement approach – Improving Together – and is key to building productive relationships with our partners.

Simon Wade, Chief Financial Officer

Simon joined the Trust as Director of Finance and Strategy in November 2020.

He has over 20 years' experience operating at a senior level in the NHS, and joined us from Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, where he was Deputy Director of Finance.

Simon is responsible for developing a strategy that ensures that the Trust's financial resources are used in the most efficient and effective way, to ensure a high quality patient service.

He is also responsible for our capital investment programme and for ensuring that the estate is fit for purpose and meets the needs of the Trust's strategy.

Naginder Dhanoa, Chief Digital Officer

Naginder’s appointment marked the first time we have made a joint Board appointment within another Trust – Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust – and the first time we have had a dedicated Board level role focussed on the digital agenda.

Previously, Naginder worked as a senior advisor to the Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, part of the United Nations.

In this role, Naginder provides strategic oversight and leadership to both Trusts in all aspects of our digital healthcare agenda to drive improvements in digitally enabled care, quality, safety, effectiveness, productivity and efficiency of services.