Our Non-Executive Directors

Following a 20 year career as an Environmental regulator and subsequently as an Executive Board Director of Yorkshire Water, Dr Helen Phillips now holds a number of national and regional non- executive roles.Now in her third term as Chair of Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, she has since 2017 also chaired the Legal Services Board, the oversight regulator of the legal sector.

In 2018 Helen was appointed to the Board of Social Work England, the new professional standards body for social work which assumed its powers in 2019 and served until 2021. Helen is also the first independent Chair of the Chartered Insurance Institute (appointed in 2020), the professional standards body charged with building public trust in the insurance and financial planning profession. Helen served for eight years on the Sheffield Business School Advisory Board.

Helen’s executive career included senior roles with the Environment Agency, in Wales and England, following which she was appointed as the first Chief Executive of Natural England in 2006. Educated at Mount Anville in Dublin, Helen graduated from University College Dublin as a zoologist, where she also took her PhD in freshwater biology. Helen is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.

Jayne has worked in the NHS as a nurse for more than 40 years and gained professional qualifications in nursing, midwifery, health visiting and NHS management.  Throughout this time Jayne has always worked in roles requiring on-going clinical knowledge and skills. Most recently Jayne held the post of Chief Nurse working with several clinical commissioning groups across a period of six years.  This involved being a Board member and also the Executive Director lead for quality with a portfolio responsibility including quality assurance and improvement, patient experience, safeguarding, infection prevention and control, medicines management and primary care.

Jayne has extensive experience in clinical governance, analysing performance and quality data as well as interpreting financial information.  She has previously worked with the Trust as a commissioner and Partner Governor.  Jayne also has a wealth of experience in primary care having worked with general practice in Derbyshire for over 15 years including working as Assistant Clinical Director with Derbyshire County PCT.  Jayne has been a member of a number of health and social care partnership boards and was also the senior responsible officer for maternity transformation within the Derbyshire STP.

Current term: 24 September 2018 to 23 September 2026          

Current term: October 2021 -10 October 2024

Nora was previously Executive Group Chair UK of global corporate communications consultancy, Weber Shandwick, responsible for the strategic and operational management of multi-market brand accounts in the UK, North America, India and China.

A former businesswoman of the year, Nora is a past president of the British Chambers of Commerce.  Her non-executive portfolio includes being Vice Chair of Council at the University of Nottingham, Board member of the International Chamber of Commerce and External Member of the House of Lords Commission.

A recipient of the First Woman of UK Media Award, she was previously managing director of Saatchi & Saatchi (North). She is a former regional Adviser to the London Stock Exchange and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Current term: 4 October 2021 to 3 October 2024

Sue has more than 20 years' experience of working in an independent capacity in leadership roles in HR and Business Transformation, predominantly in the private sector.  Her career is grounded in financial services, broadened over the years in retail, utilities (gas, electricity and water), construction, energy services, leisure, pharmaceuticals, media & communications. Sue is an APMG qualified Change Management Practitioner.

Sue has worked on a diverse range of business change programmes for a number of blue-chip companies.  Following her role as Interim Director of HR Services for the BBC, she went on to create an organisation-wide change management strategy & plan for a programme that brought significant changes to people, policies, systems, processes and culture. Sue has been at BT since 2018 as a HR Programme Director, where she is leading a UK-wide transformation programme which impacts more than 50000 people.

Current term: 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2024

Keith has thirty years’ experience working in healthcare markets in the UK, Europe and globally.

Keith has worked in pharmaceuticals, medical staffing and medical hardware businesses over a number of years. More recently he has worked for a number of organisations using technology to support patients and GPs in the Primary Care space. Currently he is Chief Commercial Officer for Reset Health who deliver Innovative chronic disease management programmes. Keith is also a Non-Executive Director of Dietary Assessment Ltd an organisation supporting patients with management of diet.

Keith has been a Non-Executive Director for over five years supporting private technology businesses, charities and more recently Derbyshire Health United providing urgent and out of hours care as well as 111 in the East Midlands.

Current term: 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2025

Atul’s career has spanned social housing, regeneration and regulation. His roles included Regional Director East Midlands and Director of Regulation at The Housing Corporation; Deputy Director at the Cabinet Office Social Exclusion Unit; and Chief Executive roles at ASRA Greater London Housing Association and LHA-ASRA Group in Leicester, until retiring in 2010.

Latterly, he was a Trustee of the Heritage Lottery Fund, where his roles included Chair of the Finance Committee and Investment Panel; and Trustee of the Royal College of Nursing Foundation. He was appointed MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours 2018 for services to Heritage and the Community in the East Midlands.

Currently he is Chairman of the Charnwood Forest Landscape Partnership, Non-Executive Director of the Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Chair of the Chesterfield Hospital Charitable Funds Committee, and a Trustee of several charities. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Current term: 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2025

Paul has worked a General Practitioner in the NHS for over 30 years. He undertook his training in Nottingham, Derby and Leicestershire and settled in Derbyshire being a GP partner in Derby from 1993, until retiring from the practice in 2022. Whilst being a GP he embraced other roles in Primary Care Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups. Paul was part of Southern Derbyshire CCG from its inception and became was Chair between 2016-2019.This CCG commissioned healthcare for over half a million people in Derby and Southern Derbyshire. In addition to chairing SDCCG he was Interim Chair of Joined Up Care Derbyshire (JUCD) for two years until 2019.

His main areas of interest have been in Primary Care Development and Urgent and Emergency Care Delivery and Transformation, having previously chaired the A&E Delivery Board in Southern Derbyshire. 

In addition to his role as a Non-Executive Director at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, he continues to work as a sessional GP and Urgent and Emergency Clinical Lead for Derby and Derbyshire ICB.

Outside of work his passions are family, walking in the Derbyshire Dales and being a season ticket holder at a local football club.

Current Term: 1 Aug 2023 – 31 July 2026

John joined the board as a non-executive director in August 2023. He is an experienced leader who has more than 22 years’ board level experience in public and private sector organisations.

His most recent position, until retirement in July 2022, was as Chief Executive Officer of Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, which he joined in 2014. Prior to that he has worked in various senior NHS roles across commissioning, community services and acute hospital care.

John held a regional leadership role in an Integrated Care System and a local leadership role in a Place-based Accountable Care Partnership with a track record of successfully delivering transformational change by partnership working. He has also worked as an executive reviewer for the CQC as part of their well led inspection reviews.

John, who trained as a chartered accountant, has a passion for the NHS and is keen to utilise his experience to improve services for the residents of Chesterfield and the wider Derbyshire area.

In retirement, John has continued to run around the beautiful Derbyshire countryside in all weathers and is looking to improve his golf handicap. A visit to a local gallery in December 2022 sparked an interest in art and John has converted an upstairs room to a studio to accommodate his expanding collection of paintings.

Current term: 1 Aug 2023 – 31 July 2026