Below is the list of our Board Members:
Read the Declaration of Interests by the board members.
Sue Winfield, OBE - Chair, Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust
Sue Winfield has been the Chair of Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust since May 2002. Sue is a former Deputy Chief Officer with the Northumbria area of the National Probation Service. Sue joined the probation service in 1970, working initially in Durham before joining the Northumbria service in 1986. In 1988 she became Deputy Chief Officer, a position she held until her retirement in May 2002. Sue was awarded the OBE in 2002.
Alan Baty - Chair, Gateshead Primary Care Trust
Alan Baty served as a local authority chief executive for over 20 years before retiring. A qualified accountant, he also held a number of finance posts including Director of Finance within local government. Before taking on the role of Chair, he served as a Non-executive Director for a local acute hospital. Alan is also a trustee of a local charity.
Stephen Clark - Chair, South Tyneside Primary Care Trust
Stephen Clark has been the Chair of South Tyneside Primary Care Trust since its inception in 2002. Stephen previously served as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of South Tyneside NHS Healthcare Trust. Until his retirement in 2007, he was Chief Executive of Tyne and Wear Enterprise Trust (ENTRUST), one of the largest business development organisations in the north east. A town planer by profession, Stephen spent 27 years in local government and held the post of Chief Executive of South Tyneside Council. He is currently a Deputy Head Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear.
Tim Morgan - Non-Executive Director
A Non-Executive Director since 2007, Tim Morgan is also Audit Committee Chair. A chartered accountant and chartered secretary by profession, Tim has spent most of his career working for a variety of value-based organisations. He was the Financial Director of Traidcraft plc for eight years and continues to work with a number of fair trade organisations.
Ron Reynolds - Non-Executive Director
Prior to being appointed as a Non-Executive Director, Ron Reynolds spent 14 years as an elected Councillor on South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council. As a councillor he held various positions on the Council's cabinet and the Local Strategic Partnership. Ron is a retired accountant.
Ruth Richardson - Non-Executive Director
Ruth Richardson has had a long career within the health sector. She worked as a midwife and health visitor before taking a number of roles in the area of stroke including posts in the Department of Epidemiology and with the Stroke Association. She also set up the Discharge Liaison Service in South Tyneside. Ruth is currently Chair of Sunderland Embroiderers Guild and is an active and longstanding member of Soroptomist International of South Shields.
Pat Harle MBE - Non-Executive Director
Pat Harle has worked in the health sector since 1975, mainly in the area of oral healthcare. She has held a number of national offices and now runs her own consultancy. Pat has been a Non-Executive Director since 2000? Please check date.
Aileen Sullivan - Non-Executive Director
Aileen Sullivan worked in the NHS for 20 years as a nurse, midwife and later a senior education manger. Between 1995 and 2006 she held the post of Director of Practice Placements at Northumbria University.
Karen Straughair - Chief Executive
Karen Straughair has spent all her working life in the NHS. She took up the post of Chief Executive of NHS South of Tyne and Wear in 2006. Her previous roles include Acting Chief Executive of Gateshead Health NHS Trust, Chief Executive of Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust and Chief Operating Officer for the North East Strategic Health Authority. Karen chairs the North East Cancer Network.
Chris Macklin - Director of Finance
Chris Macklin has worked in the NHS since 1975. He was appointed Director of Finance for NHS South of Tyne and Wear in 2006 having previously held the same post for Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust. Prior to this, he was Director of Finance for Gateshead Hospitals NHS Trust.
Dr Mike Prentice - Medical Director (Commissioning)
Mike Prentice has been a GP in Gateshead since 1998. As well as his role as Medical Director, he chairs the Clinical Executive Committee.
Nonnie Crawford - Director of Public Health, Sunderland City Council and Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust
Nonnie Crawford has been the jointly appointed Director of Public Health for Sunderland City Council and Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust since June 2007. Previously she had been the Director of Public Health at Darlington Primary Care Trust. Nonnie trained as a dentist and has had both clinical and managerial experience in a range of locations in the UK and abroad.
Alyson Learmonth - Director of Public Health, Gateshead Council and Gateshead Primary Care Trust
Alyson Learmonth has a longstanding interest in tackling inequalities in health and leads on this issue for NHS South of Tyne and Wear. As well as her role as Director of Public Health, she is Head of the School of Public Health for the Northern Deanery and is on the boards of SustaiNE and FUSE (the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health).
Louise Robson - Chief Operating Officer
Louise Robson was appointed Chief Operating Officer at NHS South of Tyne and Wear in 2008. She has held a number of roles within the health service since qualifying in speech and language therapy and psychology. These include Acting Chief Executive of County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust and Executive Director for Planning and Performance at County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals Trust.
Moira Davison - Director of Governance and Quality
Moira has extensive experience in a range of high profile Director roles across the region. She joined NHS South of Tyne and Wear in February 2011 previously working at NHS North East, as Programme Director for the Our Vision, Our Future project, and as Director of the North of England Cancer Network.
Dr David Hambleton - Director of Commissioning and Reform
David Hambleton studied medicine at Manchester and worked in Chester, Liverpool and the West Midlands before returning to his native North East as Consultant Geriatrician at City Hospitals Sunderland. Before taking up his current role, he held a number of clinical managerial posts, including Head of Performance and Clinical Governance and Director of Surgery.
Vicki Taylor - Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development
Vicki Taylor has worked in the NHS for 30 years, mainly in the area of people management. Before taking up her current position she was Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development for Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust and Acting Director of Human Resources for Gateshead Health NHS Trust. She is an accredited coach and trainer.
Neil Weddle - Associate Director of Finance
Born in Gateshead and currently living in Sunderland, is the Associate Director of Finance. Having began his career in Local Government Neil spent 3 years working with the company which designed, built and operated the National Garden Festival in Gateshead in 1990. Joining the NHS soon afterwards, Neil has undertaken a variety of senior roles within finance over the last 20 years.