Meet our leadership team

Our leadership team is made up of a Chief Executive, Non-Executive Directors, and Executive Directors.

Their role is to agree and set the strategic direction of the Trust as well as regularly monitoring our performance against national standards. They also ensure that as a Healthcare Trust we provide the best possible services which offer the people of Nottinghamshire best value for money and that we actively ensure we communicate with the people we serve.

Non-Executive Directors

Tom Cahill CBE assumed the role of Chair of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in January 2026. A registered mental health nurse, Tom brings extensive senior leadership experience across the NHS, including 12 years as Chief Executive of Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, where he led the organisation to an Outstanding CQC rating in 2019. He was named HSJ Chief Executive of the Year in 2017.

Since 2021, Tom has served as NHS England's National Director for Autism and Learning Disability, driving national improvement in outcomes, inclusion, and life opportunities for autistic people and those with learning disabilities.

Tom is committed to high quality, person centred care and to strengthening partnerships across health and care systems. As Chair, he will support the Trust's improvement journey, champion efforts to reduce health inequalities, and help deliver the ambitions of the NHS 10 Year Plan for communities across Nottinghamshire.

 

Carolyn is a highly experienced, senior health care leader with 18 years' experience working at Board level within the complex and highly regulated environment of acute and community Foundation Trusts.

She joined Nottinghamshire Healthcare on 4 March 2019 and has a demonstrable track record in harnessing and developing the talents of staff, working to identify and realise their potential and building their confidence so that, even within the most challenging of environments, delivering excellence in patient care is always achievable.

Having worked in two Foundation Trusts and with the Care Quality Commission to develop its Well-Led Framework for Community Trusts, Carolyn has an excellent understanding of healthcare regulation, and the rigour Trusts must apply to ensure the quality and safety of their services and has worked as both a specialist advisor and executive reviewer with the CQC.

Paddy was appointed to the Board in February 2022. He is a qualified social and community worker who was employed by local authorities in Nottinghamshire and by the Children's Society. His work focused on early intervention and prevention.

He served for many years as a senior member of Nottinghamshire County Council and became a nationally recognised voice on local government finance. Elected as the Member of Parliament for Sherwood from 1992 to 2010, he went on to hold ministerial roles in both the Blair and Brown Governments. His parliamentary career included serving as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons and chairing the Energy Select Committee.

Paddy served as the first Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire from 2012 to 2021, during which he again took on a prominent national role in police financing. He chaired the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and sat on the National Policing Board.

He is currently Chair of the Nottingham LIFT Companies and the Nottinghamshire Community Foundation, and remains closely involved in several environmental organisations, including the Ramblers and the Wildlife Trusts. Alongside his public service roles, he teaches and lectures on public policy.

In 2024, Paddy was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the King's Birthday Honours.

Sue Sunderland is a CIPFA qualified accountant who has more than 30 years' experience of audit, governance, financial and risk management across the public sector.

Beginning her audit career with the Audit Commission she was a district auditor for many years before becoming a director with KPMG, responsible for both internal and external audit clients. Throughout her career she has been driven by a desire to help the public sector be as effective as it can be in delivering its priorities within the resources available.

In 2015 Sue took the opportunity to translate this passion and her skills into the Non-Executive role including taking up positions with two Nottinghamshire CCGs, before joining the Trust as Audit Chair, alongside a similar role with Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (until October 2025).

Sue's ongoing non-executive director portfolio also includes her role as Chair of the Joint Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable for Derbyshire.

Nigel is a qualified accountant who worked for the Post Office and Royal Mail for over 30 years in a variety of finance, HR and Health and Safety roles.

He has been involved with the NHS in a variety of Non-Executive Director roles for the last 10 years, across community and mental health services, and is currently also a Non-Executive Member at Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board and an Associate Mental Health Manager in South Yorkshire and Humberside.

He is also a Trustee at Citizens Advice in Derbyshire and has previously been a Trustee at Age UK. Nigel is originally from Wolverhampton but then lived in Nottinghamshire before moving to Matlock.

Karen has more than 37 years' experience as a civil servant in the Department for Work and Pensions, starting at Derby Jobcentre when she left school and ending her career as acting Director General for Work and Health services across the UK. Prior to this role, she was responsible for Jobcentres and benefits across Derbyshire, then Nottinghamshire, the East Midlands and the whole of Central England and Wales. She has also led a number of major change and transformation projects across the Department for Work and Pensions. Karen says she has always been passionate about providing support to those customers with the most complex needs and sponsored this work across the Department.

Karen left her job in 2022 to care for her mother, during which time she also began volunteering as a Samaritans listener. Keen to get back to making a difference as soon as she was able, Karen joined Nottinghamshire Healthcare in February 2025 as a non-executive director. This is Karen's first post in the NHS and as a lifelong proud public servant, she is enjoying learning more about how the NHS and the Trust works and using her previous experience to help the Trust deliver the best possible care to patients and its other strategic objectives.

Dawn is an experienced clinician, having spent many years working in the NHS.  She is a nurse by background and has previously worked as an executive nurse in both the east and west midlands.  Dawn brings valuable experience and expertise in acute, mental health and community services from both provider and commissioning organisations.

More recently Dawn has worked as a non-executive director at a mental health and community provider in South Yorkshire.  She is an experienced chair of a range of board sub-committees including Quality Committee and is a previous senior independent director (SID).

Dawn is passionate about the provision of safe, high-quality care and ensuring an inclusive and supportive environment for our colleagues, patients, carers and the communities we serve.

Executive Directors

Mark joined Nottinghamshire Healthcare in June 2026. He brings over 30 years of NHS experience across primary, secondary, community, and mental health services. He is recognised for leading large scale organisational change, strengthening staff engagement, and building effective partnerships across health and social care.

He previously served as Chief Executive of Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership Trust and later Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where he oversaw a transformation that delivered nationally recognised improvements. In 2018, he was shortlisted for the Health Service Journal Chief Executive of the Year award.

In 2021, he joined the Black Country Integrated Care Board as Chief Executive, guiding a major reorganisation of local health and care services and deepening collaboration with local authorities, the voluntary sector, and the University of Wolverhampton.

Mark's continued leadership and determination to improve health and wellbeing for staff and the population we serve was recognised by the award of an honorary doctorate from the University of Wolverhampton in 2025.  

Mark is committed to strengthening organisational culture, enhancing system collaboration, and ensuring the Trust continues to deliver high quality, sustainable services. He looks forward to shaping the Trust's future direction and driving improvements that benefit the communities it serves.

Dr Sue Elcock re-joined the Trust in May 2020 and has been the Executive Medical Director since March 2021.

Sue originally trained in the Trust and worked as a consultant forensic psychiatrist in the National High Secure Service for Women at Rampton Hospital for 10 years, before moving on to Medical Director posts in Lincolnshire and Leicestershire.

She was also Head of the School of Psychiatry, East Midlands for five years and has also led on implementing medical appraisal and revalidation in Notts Healthcare.

 

 

Becky took up the position of Chief Operating Officer on 1 June 2023.

Becky originally joined the Trust in October 2020 as Executive Director of Community Health Services and then went on secondment as Executive Director of Mental Health Services. Before joining us, Becky managed the Medicine and Emergency Care Division at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Becky is an experienced Audiologist, a leader in transformation and management, and has worked in the NHS for over 35 years in varying operational and transformation roles. As the Chief Operating Officer, Becky is committed in providing the best possible patient care through fostering and developing our workforce and executing the Trusts long-term goals.

 

Diane took up her position of Executive Director of Nursing, AHPs and Quality at the Trust on 31 July 2023.

She joined us from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, where she held a similar executive director post since November 2018.

A registered mental health nurse by background, having qualified in 1990, Diane has fulfilled many specialist nurse roles before becoming an executive director of nursing in 2016.

Diane has a wealth of experience and commitment to caring and compassionate leadership.

Alison joined the Trust in 2009 after a long career in local government. Since joining the Trust she has covered various management accountancy roles more recently as Deputy Director of Finance and Procurement since March 2020 and is currently Executive Director of Finance and Estates.

Alison is a member of CIPFA and qualified at Nottingham Trent University as an accountant.  Alison is passionate about staff development and mentoring junior colleagues. The values of the Trust are important to Alison, particularly the focus on putting patient care at the heart of everything we do.

 

 

Jen was appointed as Executive Director of People and Culture in June 2022, having joined the Trust in January 2021 as the Deputy Director. Immediately prior to working at Nottinghamshire Healthcare, Jen was Deputy Director of People and Organisational Effectiveness at Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust.

During her NHS career Jen has worked across acute, community and mental health sectors and is passionate about all things 'people'.

With a keen interest in equality and diversity as well as the health and wellbeing of colleagues across the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire system, Jen is committed to making Nottinghamshire Healthcare 'diverse, inclusive and a great place to work'.

Jan Sensier joined the Trust in April 2022 as Executive Director of Partnerships and Strategy. Prior to her appointment, Jan was the Director of Strategy and Partnership for the UK Health Security Agency where she was working for two years on Covid response in public health, and before this she was at the Office of the Public Guardian.

She has a wealth of experience and knowledge gained through her varied career, including managing several Jobcentres across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire; working at the regional Government Office representing 11 government departments in the East Midlands; and leading East Midlands Councils representing local authorities. Jan was also Chief Executive of Healthwatch Staffordshire in the wake of the Francis Inquiry and worked closely with the NHS, ensuring there was a strong patient voice informing decisions on services and supporting quality improvement. She also worked as a senior civil servant in the Office of the Public Guardian, and led regional teams informing ministerial decisions during the Covid pandemic.

Jan is committed to bringing these previous experiences into her role, helping the Trust to forge new partnerships and to develop its strategy in collaboration with our patients, staff and partners. Jan also leads on transformation and quality improvement, planning, digital and the Trust's key role commissioning low and medium secure services across the East Midlands. Jan feels privileged to be Executive Sponsor for Health Inequalities and Race, Religion and Belief and is passionate about wanting to make a difference.