Board of Directors

Robina joined the NCA on 1^st September 2022. She is Professor of Medical Education and Pyscho-social Medicine at the University of Manchester Medical School, a Chartered Consultant Psychologist and Past President of the Medicine and Society Council at the Royal Society of Medicine.

Robina has extensive Board level experience having held several prestigious senior leadership roles internationally and nationally across health and care.

Previous roles include Chair of Stockport NHS Acute Trust and Stockport NHS Foundation Trust from 2000 – 2012, where she was recognised as the youngest chair to be appointed and the longest serving as her tenure ended.

Registered Interests:

• Husband GP Partner at Cheadle Medical Practice
• Director Doubleday Centre for Patient Experience - University of Manchester Medical School
• Member, British Lifestyle Medicine Advisory Board
• Chair GMCA Ethics Committee

Owen started in post as chief executive of the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust in November 2021. Prior to this appointment, he was chief executive of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT), a position he'd held since 2012. 

In 2020, he was granted the degree of Doctor of Business Administration by the University of Huddersfield following the successful completion of his thesis.

In the 2019 New Year’s Honours list, he was awarded an OBE for service to healthcare across West Yorkshire and was asked to lead a national piece of work across the NHS in England about reducing health inequalities. 

He was previously vice chair of the NHS Confederation and, prior to joining the NHS, worked across local government including two roles as chief executive at Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council and Rossendale District Borough Council. 

Before working in the public sector, he worked in commercial business including his first employment at the Yorkshire Building Society. He's passionate about reducing health inequality and ensuring that no communities - regardless of race, colour or creed - get left behind.

Registered Interests

• Co-Chair of the Chairs and the CEO Ethnic Minority Network
• Chief Executive member of NHS Quest
• Member of the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB)
• Yorkshire and Humber PSRC Strategic Advisory Board

Jude has worked in the NHS for 35 years. After completing her nurse training in the north-west, she spent 10 years working in London and overseas where she specialised in adult and paediatric intensive care. Returning to the north-west in 2002, she's undertaken roles leading teams within specialist, acute and community services, moving to operational management in 2005.

She joined Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust from 2011 to 2016 as the chief operating officer, the highlight being the move to the new Hospital in the Park. Jude was the executive lead for the major change programmes including transformation of pathways, new hospital commissioning and the safe move of all patients and services.

In 2016, Jude joined the team leading the support to the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and the formation of the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group. She was appointed as chief delivery officer in March 2017.

Jude is executive lead for NCA performance and planning, Group diagnostic and pharmacy, and estates and facilities services.

Her clinical and operational experience is underpinned by a strong commitment to both patients and staff.

Registered Interests:

• Husband is Employee of Lancs and Cumbria Academic Health Science Network and Trustee of a Stockdales, a Manchester based Learning Disability Charity
• Daughter is a trainee solicitor – Hill Dickinson LLP

Lorna joined the NCA in September 2022. She is a senior IT Leader with over 20 years’ experience across a wide range of business sectors including financial services, legal, telecommunications, oil & gas and heavy industries.

She started her career at the British Library, and has significant experience across operational IT service delivery as well as programme and project management expertise within both the private and public sector . Prior to joining the NCA Lorna was the Chief Information Officer at StepChange Debt Charity, the largest debt charity in the UK.

She was awarded membership into the CIO 100 UK for 2021, 2022 and 2023 was included within the 2023 longlist of the most influential women in UK Tech.

Registered Interests:

• Trustee at St Leonard’s Hospice

Rafik joined the NCA in February 2023 from St. George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where he was Divisional Chair leading a wide portfolio of services.  He is a practicing Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine trained in Egypt and the UK. 

In 2002, Rafik was awarded an MSc in Health Management and has since pursued a portfolio career in clinical practice and healthcare leadership. 

Rafik is experienced in working within Integrated Care Systems and Operational Delivery Networks.  He led the Critical Care COVID-19 response for Southwest London as one of the Senior Responsible Officers in the wider London Intensive Care system and set up the Southwest London Adult Critical Care Network. He has also served as the Deputy Clinical Director for the Pan-London Adult Critical Care Operational Delivery network and led on the delegation of specialised commissioning.

Overseas, Rafik has supported leading healthcare providers with developing strategy and implementing clinical governance frameworks; served as an independent board member for a listed company; and worked on international projects in Africa, Asia, and Europe. 

Rafik is committed to bringing the clinical voice to the forefront of decision making and is passionate about developing excellence in clinical services.

Registered Interests:

• None

Craig joined the Northern Care Alliance (NCA) as Bury and Rochdale Care Organisation Director of Finance in 2018. For the last two years he has held the position of NCA Deputy Chief Finance Officer and is currently the Interim Chief Finance Officer.

Craig joined the NHS as a national finance management trainee in 2003 and has over 19 years of experience working in senior roles across various operational and corporate finance functions in several large acute Trusts including Manchester Foundation Trust, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Aintree University Hospital and in commissioning across Chorley and Preston. He is passionate about development of people and been involved in some major locality integration work regarding financial flows and development of locality plans for elective recovery across the NCA.

Registered Interests:

• None

Heather joined the NCA on 12 September 2022 from Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. She has worked for over 29 years as a registered nurse, systemic psychotherapist and strategic leader in mental health as well as acute health. Early in her career she specialised in eating disorders nurse therapy.

Her previous roles include the Executive Chief Nurse of Ashford and St. Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust, as well as her role at a national level as the Director of Nursing for Improvement in NHS England where she directed national nursing and midwifery strategic planning and delivery within Maternity, SEND Programme, Safeguarding, Continuing Health Care, Community Nursing, and Urgent & Emergency Care.

Registered Interests:

• Member, CNO Strategic Advisory Group
• Lay Member, Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB) – Palliative Medicine Specialist Advisory Committee
• Chair, Global Majority Ethnicity Chief Nurses’ Network
• Visiting Professor, Kingston University, London
• Visiting Professor, University of Surrey

Gertie joined the NCA in September 2024, from a joint Chief People Officer role working across both the South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust and the George Eliot NHS Trust.  Gertie is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and has worked in the NHS since 2001. 

Over her career, Gertie has worked across a range of different NHS organisations in the Northwest and the Midlands and has also held Non-Executive roles in wholly owned subsidiary companies. 

Gertie is the executive lead for both the People and Strategy functions and has a passion for ensuring that we create the best conditions for all our colleagues, where they feel they are valued, cared for and have a voice.

Register of Interests:

• Husband is Director of Data and Architecture, Marie Curie

Tim’s career has been in the NHS for nearly 40 years with the majority of that time spent working with NHS organisations in the north-west.

He joined the NHS graduate scheme in 1981, qualifying as a CIPFA accountant and then worked in finance and audit roles in a number of health bodies in the south-east. He also undertook a secondment with the Department of Health to strengthen NHS governance following a number of corporate failures. In more recent years, Tim's led MIAA, an NHS shared service providing audit, assurance, governance, risk and advisory support to the majority of north-west Trusts and CCGs.

Tim is also an Audit Committee independent member of SCOPE, the national disability equality charity.

Registered Interests:

• Independent Audit Committee member of SCOPE
• Affiliated with AquA
• Member of Public Sector Internal Audit Standards Board
• British Red Cross Volunteer

Carmen was director for HR projects and HR transformation for Sodexo in the UK. Prior to this role, she joined Sodexo in July 2013 as HR director for the HR shared services function, accountable for the smooth operation of employee relations, and HR transactional and payroll services for a multi-site, multi-services business with 37,000 employees across the UK.  

Prior to joining Sodexo, Carmen held several senior HR roles, creating and running shared services operations. She built breadth and depth in this specialism, and in business transformation, by holding the leader position for HR shared services at Royal Bank of Scotland, SPX Corporation and AstraZeneca.

Carmen has also been an HR professional and business leader in a range of sectors including the NHS as well as the pharmaceutical, banking, manufacturing and facilities management industries.

Carmen is also the Senior Independent Director of the Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust.

Registered Interests:

• Non-Executive Director East Lancashire Financial Services (ELFS)
• Director, Carmen Drinkwater Ltd

Rachel brings a breadth of skills and experience to the board, having held strategy; digital; transformation; data and technology executive posts in the private, public and charity sectors. Specialising in innovating operating models and continuous operational improvement. Previously an IBM and Deloitte management consultant, Rachel shaped and led global technical transformation programmes of scale in Financial Services for brands such as RBS, Royal London, Swinton Insurance, Aviva, Barclays and Cooperative Bank, also Sporting Events such as London 2012 Olympics and in Retail and Higher Education. 

Rachel is passionate about supporting patients to receive excellent service and is an active member of the NHS Blood and Transplant Board.

Registered Interests:

• Executive role - HM Revenue and Customs
• Director Property Prototype Ltd
• Non-Executive Director, NHS Blood and Transplant
• Director Davies and Scott (dormant coaching business – non NHS)

Geoff joined the NCA on 1st October 2023 following a career in Local Government which included roles as Chief Executive of Bury Council and Deputy Chief Executive at Manchester City Council. He brings extensive experience of strategic management in the public sector. Geoff also has experience of reforming public services within Greater Manchester where he helped integrate NHS services with social care and other public services.

Geoff has previously held joint roles employed across the NHS and local government having been Chief Officer of Bury CCG and then Place Based Lead in Bury for the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership. He has also previously held the role of lead Chief Executive for Health and Social Care with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Registered Interests:

• Brother is Director of research company - Ratio Research

Sue joins the NCA from Wirral University Hospitals where she has been a Non-Executive Director for the past 6 years. She is a qualified accountant. Sue has spent her career in NHS finance, working mainly as Finance Director for a number of provider organisations, then for the NHS Trust Development Authority and NHS Improvement as finance lead for the north of England. A keen supporter of staff development, Sue was president of the Healthcare Financial Management Association in 2015. 

Sue retired from full time work in 2016 but her heart still lies in the NHS. As well as her Non-Executive roles, she volunteers at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool. 

Registered Interest:

• Non-Executive Director – Wirral University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Volunteer – Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS Foundation Trust

Aziz is a leader and board member with extensive experience at the BBC, Royal Television Society and The Royal Exchange Theatre. He worked at the BBC for 30 years, holding senior editorial roles on BBC World News, national news from TV Centre, and regional TV, radio and online services in the East Midlands and the north-west. He was part of the team that moved BBC services like sport, children’s and BBC Breakfast from London to Salford.

Aziz and his teams have won national and regional awards and he has a track record of boosting audiences and improving diversity and gender equality. He grew up in a big family with a single mum in a council house in Bradford. After studying engineering sciences at Oxford University, he lived in London for 20 years before the BBC move to Salford.

Aziz loves the NHS and is really committed to excellent services and equality of outcome for all. He's also a mentor and champion for the Social Mobility Foundation.

Registered Interests:

• None

Chris joined the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust on 1 September 2024. He has worked in the NHS for over 40 years. He qualified in Medicine from Manchester and subsequently trained in primary care and public health before holding a range of senior public director health posts in Lancashire. 

He has had a varied executive career working to address health inequalities in some of England's most complex and challenging healthcare systems. He has been actively involved in numerous national and international committees focusing on the quality of care and standards of clinical practice. His leadership was pivotal in establishing the first Northwest region-wide cancer peer review programme and developing the networked radiotherapy model, leading to new cancer centres in Oldham, Salford, and Macclesfield. 

Register of Interests:

• Executive Director, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
• Non-Executive Director, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
• Director and Joint Owner, Cracking Wine Limited
• Advisory Consultant, People's Choice Wine Limited
• Owner, C.J Harrison (Consultancy) Limted
• Trustee and Honorary Secretary, The Orwell Society

Miriat joined the NCA in November 2023.  She trained as a mechanical engineer in Uganda and completed an MBA at Warwick University in the UK. Her professional career has been mainly in Supply chain and Operations leadership roles. She has worked in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry working at Coca-Cola in Africa & Asia and PepsiCo (Walkers Crisps) in the UK before moving into the Pharma industry where she now works for Astrazeneca leading a global Digital, Data and Analytics Team in External Supply & manufacturing area.

Registered Interests:

• None