Meet our Board
Last updated: 01/06/2023
The Trust Board has overall corporate responsibility for the running of the organisation. The main role of the Trust Board is to guide the overall strategic direction of University Hospitals Bristol and Weston (UHBW) NHS Foundation Trust including planning for our current challenges and future priorities - ensuring that we can set and meet our objectives.
The Board is made up of directors, including the chief executive, who are full time senior staff, together with an independent lay chair and non-executive directors who hold part-time positions.
The executive directors bring expertise from their positions in key areas of the Trust, while the chair and non-executive directors offer their skills and experience from a wide variety of roles in the community.
The key Committees that feed into Board can be seen here.
Key publications such as Annual Reports, our Constitution and our Registers of Interests can be found on our Reports and Publications page.
Following the merger of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and Weston Area Health NHS Trust, the University Hospitals Bristol Board members below now lead the merged organisation, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW). The start dates below are for University Hospitals Bristol, prior to merger.
Chair and Chief Executive +
Chair: Jayne Mee MStJ
Jayne has spent more than 30 years in human resources and organisational development, working in executive roles with the Boots Company, Whitbread, Royal Mail, Punch Taverns and Barratt Developments. Until June 2015 she was director of people and organisation development at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Until June 2021 she was a non-executive director at London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, and a trustee at St John Ambulance. She joined NHS Charities Together as a Trustee in September 2021. Jayne is also an executive coach where she supports executives and organisations in culture change, engagement and transformation in a wide variety of private and public sector businesses.
Jayne holds an MSc in human resource development from Nottingham Trent University, a certificate in coaching from Henley Management College and is a Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development.
Jayne was appointed as Non-Executive in June 2019 before taking on the role of Interim Chair in April 2021. She was appointed into the substantive role of Trust Chair on 9 December 2021.
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- Start date: 1 June 2019
- Declared interests: Trustee at NHS Charities Together
Chief executive: Professor Eugine Yafele
Eugine was appointed chief executive of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust in May 2022.
Prior to joining UHBW, Eugine was the chief executive of Dorset HealthCare University Foundation Trust for four years. Under his leadership, the Trust achieved a CQC rating of Outstanding in his first year as chief executive. The Trust was also ranked amongst the top 4 in the annual staff survey for 3 consecutive years – with the best scores nationally for staff engagement and empowerment.
A nurse by background, Eugine brings a wealth of experience across senior clinical and operational roles in the private sector and in acute and mental health organisations in the NHS.
Eugine completed his MBA at Warwick Business School and has broad experience of partnership working and developing new models of care to improve the experience and outcomes for people who use health and social care services. In 2023, Eugine was appointed as a Visiting Professor for the College of Health, Science and Society at the University of the West of England.
Executive directors +
Chief Operating Officer: Jane Farrell
Jane has experience of working in and across large complex organisations and systems, including 19 years as an executive director. Her previous roles have included Executive Managing Director, Deputy Chief Executive, Director of Transformation and COO across NHS organisations including Kings College Hospitals, Mid & South Essex FT, and Western Sussex Hospitals. Jane is a dual registered nurse, specialising in paediatric critical care. Jane joined UHBW on 31 October 2022 as interim Chief Operating Officer and was appointed on a permanent basis from 1 April 2023.
Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Chief Executive: Professor Stuart Walker
Professor Stuart Walker is an experienced NHS Executive Medical Director and previous Deputy Chief Executive Officer. He has a background in a broad range of senior leadership positions and, as a prior Cardiologist of 18 years standing, significant senior clinical experience. Before coming to UHBW in Feb 2022 he worked at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board as MD, Deputy CEO and then Interim CEO. He has also held prior Executive, and senior leadership, roles in the English NHS for example as MD at Taunton and Somerset NHS FT, and Chief Medical Officer at TSFT and Somerset Partnership FT. He was awarded the title of Honorary Professor by Cardiff University in 2021. Stuart joined the Trust on 21 February 2022.
Chief People Officer and Deputy Chief Executive: Emma Wood
Emma is an experienced executive whose specialisms include employee relations and engagement, inclusion, organisational design and development, resourcing and talent development. With a strong track record across both the private and public sector, Emma previously worked at South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust as well as Avon and Somerset Constabulary. Emma holds a BA in Psychology and Education and an MSC in Integrated Professional Practice from UWE. She is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and an Executive Coach. Emma joined the Trust on 4 January 2022
Chief Nurse and Midwife: Professor Deirdre Fowler
Professor Deirdre Fowler is an experienced executive chief nurse and midwife who has worked in community, acute and academic settings throughout her 30 years in healthcare. Deirdre has a broad range of leadership experience and passions, such as introducing clinical accreditation models in acute settings and developing clinical academic models for nurses, midwives and AHPs. She most recently worked in the North East before joining University Hospitals Bristol and Weston on 18 January 2021. In 2022, Deirdre was awarded the title of Visiting Professor by the University of the West of England. She is also a Trustee of the Bristol and Weston Hospital Charity Board.
Executive Managing Director Weston General Hospital: Paula Clarke
Paula joined the NHS as a general management trainee and over the last 30 years has held senior manager posts in commissioning, provider and primary care organisations, working predominantly in the integrated health and social care system in Northern Ireland. Paula has over 12 years of experience at Board level, including serving as the interim chief executive of Southern Health and Social Care Trust in 2015/16. Paula has extensive experience in integrated care delivery, strategic planning, continuous improvement, partnership working and service transformation programmes. Paula joined the Trust on 1 April 2016
Chief Financial Officer: Neil Kemsley
Neil trained and qualified at The Trust before leaving in 1998 to progress his career through the finance ranks at University College London hospitals, Kings and then Portsmouth. Neil has over 15 years' experience as a Board director working across the provider, commissioning and regulatory sectors of the NHS. More recently he spent three-and-a-half years at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust before returning to Bristol. Neil joined the Trust on 1 July 2019.
Non-executive directors +
Non-executive Director: Martin Sykes
Martin studied chemistry at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where he obtained a PhD and spent a number of years working in post-doctoral research. He later qualified as an accountant and joined the NHS in 1995. Martin worked most recently at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust as finance director and deputy chief executive. Within the NHS Martin has also held executive responsibility for procurement; information management and technology; information governance; contracting; and strategy.
Martin is chair of the Finance & Digital Committee and vice chair of the Board.
Start date: 4 September 2017
Declared interests: None
Non-executive Director: Bernard Galton
Bernard has had a long and successful Civil Service career with 28 years in the Ministry of Defence, and 10 years in the Welsh Government. He retired in 2014 from his role as director general.
With more than 20 years of executive Board experience, he has complemented this with non-executive directorships in the Royal National Mineral Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases Foundation Trust, Capita Property Services in Wales, and he is currently a non-executive director of the Board of Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. Whilst in the Welsh Government, Bernard led a large corporate services department spanning human resources, learning and development, information services, property, facilities, health and safety and security.
He was head of profession for human resources and organisation development for all Public Service organisations in Wales, and also worked at the highest level in NHS Wales gaining an understanding of the key strategic issues facing health and social care services.
He is a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and lives in Bath.
Bernard is chair of the People Committee.
Start date: 1 July 2019
Declared interests: Non-executive director, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Non-executive Director: Sue Balcombe
Sue is a registered nurse with more than 35 years of experience within the NHS and significant NHS board experience at an executive level. In 2005 she was Director of Nursing at Taunton Deane Primary Care Trust followed by Chief Nurse at Somerset Community Health. Following a merger and acquisition in 2015, she became Chief Nurse at Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust bringing together community and mental health services within an integrated trust.
Sue has extensive and varied clinical experience principally in urgent and emergency care and community care, assuming leadership roles in each. She brings significant experience in service integration and system redesign having played a clinical leadership role within Somerset STP prior to her retirement in 2018.
Prior to joining the Board Sue was a Non-executive Director at Weston Area Health NHS Trust and a non-executive director (designate) at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.
Start date: 1 April 2020
Declared interests: None
Non-executive Director: Professor Jane Norman
Professor Jane Norman has been Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Bristol since June 2019. She was the academic lead for diversity and inclusion at the University of Edinburgh and in addition, she was a Non-Executive Director of the Equality Challenge Unit from 2014 until it was absorbed into Advance HE in 2018. She has held executive roles in many other organisations, including the Academy of Medical Sciences and (currently) the Medical Schools Council.
She has a strong background in health research, spanning the full range of research activity, from discovery (basic laboratory and preclinical studies) through early phase clinical trials to phase III/IV studies and analysis of large epidemiological datasets. She has over 250 peer-reviewed publications. She also has 35 years of experience as a hospital clinician in obstetrics and gynaecology.
Jane was appointed as a Non-executive Director of the Trust on 1 March 2021. Jane is the Chair of the Audit Committee.
Start date: 1 March 2021
Declared interests: Employee at the University of Bristol
Non-executive Director: Marc Griffiths
Marc is the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences at the University of the West of England, Bristol. He has responsibility for approximately 10,500 students across Health and Social Care, Applied Sciences and Social Sciences at all levels of education from foundation degree through to doctoral level. He also has overall responsibility for circa 450 staff and work with a number of external partners across the city and region of Bristol and beyond.
Marc's research and knowledge exchange areas include exploring the development of hybrid practitioners within healthcare and education, Leadership redesign for Allied Health Professions, EDI work and service provision mapping.
Marc was appointed as a Non-executive Director of the Trust on 1 July 2022.
Start date: 1 July 2022
Declared interests: Employee at University of the West of England, Fitness to Practice support for the Health and Care Professions Council, Appointed Director of the Council of Deans of Health and Appointed Governor at City of Bristol College.
Non-executive Director: Roy Shubhabrata
Roy has spent the last two decades focused on digital transformation in healthcare across Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. His interest lies is in the collaboration of government, academia, charities and providers in the adoption of innovative technologies in health and care settings.
Roy is the Chief Executive of Healthinnova, an international health technology solutions company based in Bath. He is a Trustee of Age UK, the country's leading charity focused on older people, as well as HelpAge International UK, which focuses on ageing issues in low and middle-income countries.
Roy was appointed as a Non-executive Director of the Trust on 1 July 2022.
Start date: 1 July 2022
Declared interests: Directorship or Membership at HelpAge International UK, Age UK Bath and North East Somerset Limited, Age UK and Healthinnova Limited
Associate Non-executive Director: Arabel Bailey
Arabel brings 30 years experience of technology-driven transformation in the private sector, across a wide range of industries. She is an experienced business leader and has held numerous senior executive positions in the areas of Technology, Digital Transformation and Innovation.
She is also a Non-Executive Director at the Department for Work and Pensions working as part of their Transformation Advisory Committee. She provides expertise and insight around modernising and transforming the Department’s citizen services.
Arabel has long been a champion for diversity and inclusion and for the need to bring a better gender balance to the technology industry. She is recognised as a role model in this area and has received industry recognition for her leadership roles.
Arabel was appointed as an Associate Non-executive Director of the Trust on 1 July 2022.
Start date: 1 July 2022
Declared interests: Non-executive Director at Department for Work and Pensions