Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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,
Medical Director

Jon joined the Trust as Medical Director in September 2021

His consultant medical career was as 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.

To enable this he will support the multi-disciplinary clinical teams as they develop their services in finding new and effective ways of providing compassionate care.

This will include working to support and strengthen clinical leadership across the Trust.

He will also help to achieve our ambition to expand digital programs including an enhanced electronic patient record.

Jude Gray, Director of Human Resources

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

Jude is responsible for running the administrative functions of the Trust.

She oversees the recruitment of staff, manage strategic staffing planning and will serve as a link between the Trust and its employees.

Jude is new to the NHS, with previous experience from years working for the BBC in a variety of HR roles.

She was also the Head of HR for Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service.

Jude was appointed Director of Human Resources for the Trust in 2019.

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,
Director of Improvement and Partnerships

Claire joined the Trust as Director of Improvement and Partnerships in April 2021 with over 15 years of experience in acute hospital management, leading on patient flow and working with partners on system wide performance. 

She looks to remove organisational boundaries to create an environment in which teams and individuals can flourish to deliver the compassionate, safe and effective care in to people in the most efficient way possible.

She works with teams across the Trust and the wider health and care system to reduce health inequalites and to improve the wellbeing of our local communities. 

Simon Wade, Director of Finance and Strategy

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 the Trust from the 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 works closely with clinical teams to ensure that the Trust's financial viability is maintained, and that productivity opportunities are identified, and improvement plans implemented.

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