Trust board members and board papers

Trust Board meeting dates

Date	Time	Location
Tuesday 12 May 2026	10am — 12.30pm	Queen's Hospital Burton
Tuesday 14 July 2026	10am — 12.30pm	Queen's Hospital Burton
Tuesday 8 September 2026	10am — 12.30pm	Royal Derby Hospital
Tuesday 10 November 2026	10am — 12.30pm	Royal Derby Hospital
Tuesday 12 January 2027	10am — 12.30pm	Queen's Hospital Burton
Tuesday 9 March 2027	10am — 12.30pm	Royal Derby Hospital

Prem Singh, Chair

Prem joined the NHS in 1975 as a student nurse as part of an international recruitment campaign. With a general and psychiatric nursing background, his senior management and leadership career has covered all sectors of the NHS and social care, for over 35 years. He has previously been a Chief Executive and an Executive Director of Nursing and Quality and has extensive experience as a Chair in community, acute and ICB roles for nearly a decade.

Prem retired from his last NHS roles as Chair of Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (DCHS) and Chair of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board in 2022, before deciding to rejoin the NHS as Chair of UHDB in May 2024. Having had family experiences of the services of the Trust, the opportunity to serve his local hospital Trust and community was a massive pull.  

He strongly believes in 'service to others', social justice and inclusion, and is passionate about improving healthcare services as well as improving health and addressing inequalities.  

In addition to his substantive roles, Prem has previously also held several national leadership positions including as CEO lead for inclusive leadership and as Senior Independent Trustee of the NHS Confederation. He is proud to have been part of the NHS journey spanning the past six decades - from nurse to CEO and Chairman.

 

Stephen Posey, Chief Executive

Stephen joined University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHSFT in September 2022. He was previously the CEO of Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Cambridge.

During his time at Royal Papworth, Stephen successfully delivered the move to a new state-of-the- art hospital and under his leadership Royal Papworth became the first NHS hospital trust in the country to receive an 'Outstanding' rating across all Care Quality Commission (CQC) domains.

Stephen has a strong track record of delivering both quality and performance and building professional links with industry, research and academic partners.

As CEO, Stephen is committed to working with colleagues across the Trust and the Derbyshire and Staffordshire communities to support the delivery of our strategy to provide exceptional care together and the best outcomes for patients.

In addition to his Chief Executive role, Stephen: is a Partner Member of the NHS Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Cluster Integrated Care Board, Chair of Joined Up Care Derbyshire's Provider Collaborative Executive Leadership Group; Deputy Chair of the East Midlands Acute Providers (EMAP) Network; and Chair of the East Midlands Clinical Research Network Partnership Board.

Stephen is an alumni of Harvard Business School.

Sardip Sandhu, Non-Executive Director

Sardip Sandhu has over 20 years of experience and expertise in a variety of commercial, general management, strategy & transformation leadership roles at Walgreens Boots Alliance. She specialises in building strategy, operational change, brands, teams and people, and has worked with teams in UK, USA and Asia. Sardip, who has a Masters degree in Global Public Heath, is a qualified performance coach, is passionate about people, innovation and ethics in organisations. 

Sardip is also a independent Governor and board member of DeMontfort University and is a Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham medical school.

Sardip is Chair of the Charitable funds committee, Vice Chair of Finance and performance  Committee and a board member of D Hive.

Justin Shannahan, Non-Executive Director

Justin joined the Trust Board in June 2019. He has a broad finance, purchasing and commercial background and worked for over 20 years in a number of roles at Rolls-Royce, most recently as the Director of Finance of the Civil Aerospace division.

Justin holds a BA (Hons) in Accounting and Financial Management and is a qualified accountant.

Justin is the Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Finance and Investment Committee and the Charitable Funds Committee.

Professor Jaspal Taggar, Non-Executive Director

Professor Jaspal Taggar is a General Practitioner and Clinical Academic at the University of Nottingham.

As Head of Undergraduate GP Education at Nottingham University, Prof. Taggar is passionate about the training of the future medical workforce and innovation of medical education.

He has a portfolio of clinical and medical education research whilst supporting research delivery across the East Midlands in his capacity as Co-Lead for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network.

Born and brought up locally in Derby, Prof. Taggar wants to use his expertise to support and develop high-quality patient care and services, enabling the health and wealth of the local community to thrive.

Professor Chris Harrison, Senior Independent Director

Chris brings over 35 years of board-level experience across the NHS and wider public sector, including senior executive roles in trusts and commissioning organisations and at regional and national level. He now has a portfolio of non-executive positions currently also including vice chair at The Northern Care Alliance NHSFT where he chairs the quality committee. He is a senior adviser to the board of The Christie, a specialist cancer centre, and a Trustee of the Orwell Society, a charity and international literary society.

Chris has extensive leadership experience in NHS governance and system working in some of England’s most complex organisations and health systems. He is a registered doctor, a fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, Royal Society of Medicine, Royal Society of Public Health, and Royal Society of Arts.  

In addition to his NHS governance roles Chris is an accredited executive coach and an accredited independent funeral celebrant. He is also an Honorary Professor at The University of Manchester. 

 

Nicky Clarke, Non-Executive Director

Nicky has over 38 years of HR and people experience in large organisations, 11 of those years within the NHS. Nicky is currently Chief of People for the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, which is a post she has held since 2019, and has previously worked as Director of HR at Nottingham University Hospitals and Director of Workforce and Organisational Development at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

She also has extensive experience in the private sector, spending a large part of her career in HR at Boots UK, where she worked for 20 years in a variety of roles.

Nicky has a generalist HR background and has worked on several change programmes, working closely with executive teams to support them on the overall shape and design of the organisation, the organisational culture and employee engagement.

Simon Pearce, Non-Executive Director

Simon was born in Staffordshire and is an engineering graduate. He qualified as a chartered accountant and spent most of his career working in London and the south-east, initially in auditing and then in mergers, acquisitions and flotations. He then spent over 20 years working in a commercial environment, for a Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100, FTSE 250 and private companies, predominantly in company secretary or senior financial management roles. He experienced the financial crash of 2008 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of an investment bank before joining the Financial Conduct Authority (then Financial Services Authority) in 2012 as the organisation’s first Company Secretary and, later, Director of Corporate Governance. 
 
He retired in 2022 and returned home to East Staffordshire and was appointed as Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit and Risk Committee at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, a large mental health and community care trust covering Staffordshire and Shropshire and providing specialist services, including forensic services, further afield. 
 
Simon’s motivation for joining UHDB was that Queen’s Hospital Burton is his local hospital – a hospital that has served his family well for many years.

 

Ian Lichfield, Non-Executive Director

Ian’s expertise lies in business transformation, turnaround and growth. Ian has held a number of CEO and CFO roles in both listed and private equity-backed businesses. During this time, Ian has achieved award-winning business transformation and growth and has delivered an exceptional health and safety performance. 

As a qualified chartered accountant, Ian has expertise in finance, strategy, restructuring, rationalising and growing businesses and has led the acquisition, integration and sale of several businesses across his career. 

He has extensive Board level management and leadership experience, including managing a number of joint ventures during his international career in the commercial sector. Ian is passionate about delivering strong health and safety performance and building a culture where people get an opportunity to grow and develop, and has seven years' experience as a former non-executive director at Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, including chairing its Quality Business and Audit and Assurance committees. 

Ian is the Vice Chair, Chair of the Finance, Investment and Performance Committee and a member of the Audit Committee. 

Claire Finn, Executive Chief Financial Officer

Claire joined University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust as Chief Financial Officer in March 2026, with more than 20 years' experience in NHS finance.

She previously worked at the Trust as Director of Operational Finance and Acting Chief Finance Officer, and since late 2024, has held Interim Chief Finance Officer roles at NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB and Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB, where she led major efficiency programmes focused on service redesign, value and patient care.

Claire's experience spans acute, commissioning and system-level roles. She began her career as a graduate finance trainee in 2003, qualifying as an accountant and progressing into senior and Board-level positions, including Director of Finance at a local ambulance service trust.

 

Dr Gis Robinson, Executive Chief Medical Officer

Dr Robinson is a Paediatric Emergency Consultant by background who joined the Trust in 2009, just as the new Paediatric Emergency Department opened.

Gis holds a wealth of clinical knowledge and experience both in and outside the organisation, and joined the Board as Chief Medical Officer in April 2024, following a period as Interim Executive Medical Director since September 2023.

Gis also is Senior Responsible Owner for Joined Up Care Derbyshire's Musculoskeletal Group and the East Midlands Acute Providers Network Oncology Group.

 

  

Paran Govender, Executive Chief Operating Officer 

Paran joined the Trust in November 2025, bringing vast clinical and operational knowledge, with nearly 30 years in the NHS. 

Most recently as Chief Operating Officer at Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, she is an experienced senior operational and clinical leader, after starting her career as an Occupational Therapist. 

Paran's previous roles, most significantly in Southeast London, at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College NHS Foundation Trust include Chief of Therapies, Rehabilitation and Integrated Clinical Services, before moving into Director of Operations and Partnerships positions.

 

Garry Marsh, Executive Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive

Garry joined UHDB as Executive Chief Nurse in 2022 after an extensive nursing and operational career across the Midlands, joining UHDB from The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham where he had been Chief Nurse for seven years.

Alongside his Trust role Garry is the Chief Nurse Senior Responsible Officer for infection prevention and control across the Derbyshire system, and also works with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an Executive Reviewer on Well Led inspections.

 

Amanda Rawlings, Executive Chief People Officer

Amanda has worked in the NHS since 2007 and joined UHDB in March 2020. Prior to joining UHDB, Amanda worked across Derbyshire for Derbyshire Community Health Services Foundation Trust (DCHS), Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust (DHCFT) and Chesterfield Royal Foundation Trust. Prior to joining the NHS, Amanda worked globally for Caterpillar – Perkins Engines Co Limited, and British Sugar PLC. Amanda is joint Chair for the Midlands HR Director Network and Vice President of the East Midlands Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA).

 

Debbie Loke, Executive Chief Digital Information Officer

Debbie has worked at UHDB since 2003, most recently working as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and EPR Director across Joined up Care Derbyshire, managing the single EPR programme across both acute Trusts within Derbyshire.  

Debbie joined the NHS from the private sector where she led a number of data and analytical development programmes for IBM and Andersen Consulting. She is also the chair for the technical design authority across Derbyshire, aligning technical solutions and supporting collaborative working with system partners.  She supports a number of regional networks such as the East Midlands Radiology Consortium and the Midlands and East Pathology Network to drive innovation through the use of technology and data.

Debbie is the vice chair of the CIO advisory panel for Digital Health, representing CIOs nationally on policy change and is also a member of the CHIME faculty supporting the development of other Digital Healthcare leaders. Debbie speaks widely on the opportunities of digitally enabled transformation and is passionate about developing people in their digital and data careers, and more widely.

 

Rebecca O'Connor, Executive Director of Corporate Development

Rebecca joined the Trust in October 2023, having been the Director of Corporate Governance at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since 2021. Rebecca has held a number of senior roles in the NHS and local government across her career. Rebecca steered a multimillion-pound contract for Worcester Royal Urgent and Emergency Care Centre through to completion and has led the development of the governance arrangements across Worcestershire place as part of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care System. Prior to joining the acute sector, Rebecca led the governance behind the merger of the Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Groups and was Operational Lead for the BSol System Operations Centre during the pandemic.