Our Board of Directors
The Role of our Trust Board
The Role of the Trust Board is to:
-
Provide leadership
-
Establish the vision, mission and values of the Trust and set strategy and structures
-
Shape the culture
-
Ensure accountability by holding the organisation to account for the achievement of strategy
-
Oversee the management of the Trust by
-
Determining monitoring criteria
-
Establishing effective internal controls
-
Regularly reviewing effectiveness
-
The Executive and Non-Executive Directors
There is a general duty upon directors to promote the success of the Trust to maximise the benefits for members of the trust and the public. All members have a collective responsibility for every decision of the board. All directors have a collective responsibility to challenge constructively the information and proposals made to the board.
Non-executive directors have a particular duty to challenge executive directors and scrutinise their performance accordingly.
Executive directors are paid employees – responsible as executives for managing the organisation and as board members (directors) for leadership and direction of the Trust.
Non-executive directors are drawn from outside the organisation and bring to the Trust external expertise. They are paid for their time but are not employees of the Trust. They do not have a managerial role and are particularly responsible for challenging the executive directors in decision making and on the Trust’s strategy.
University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Boards of Directors meetings
The Board meets in public every two months with the Board of Northampton General Hospital in order to demonstrate the trusts’ commitment to advancing collaboration. The dates, times and venues of the meetings will be published on this page, along with recordings from the meetings. The normal start time for meetings is 9.30am. Meetings are open to the public, who are very welcome to attend – please email richard.may1@nhs.net if you wish to do so, or wish to ask a question before, or at, the meeting.
The Council of Governors is a valued and effective body advising the trust on issues that are important to patients and the wider community. It works with the trust to ensure it provides the best possible service to its patients. The Council of Governors is not responsible for the day-to-day running of the trust but works with the board of directors to produce the trust’s future plans; it ensures that the voice of members and partners are used to inform the trust’s decisions. Its statutory responsibilities are described in the Trust’s constitution.
The Council of Governors also hold the non-executive directors individually and collectively to account.
Hemant joined NGH in 2017 as a Consultant Urologist. Since then, he has worked in a number of roles from Regional Director for the Royal College of Surgeons to the Trust Clinical Director for Cancer Performance. 
Richard joins KGH from Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) where he has been the Executive Director of Finance since 2016. As a Chartered Accountant, Richard has many years of NHS experience in a range of sectors including Strategic Health Authority, Oxford University Hospitals and East Midlands Ambulance Service. Richard holds a Maths degree and in 2012, was awarded Healthcare Finance Managers Association, Deputy Finance Director of the Year.
Paula joined the Trust in 2019 after a career in HR spanning both public and private sectors, latterly including 15 years in policing where she was half of a job share partnership working in a number of senior roles. Whilst working for Cambridgeshire Constabulary Paula was part of the HR leadership team that developed a collaborated HR service across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police forces. Initially joining KGH as Deputy Director HR and OD in September 2019, Paula was appointed as Director HR and OD in June 2020 and Acting Chief People Officer in July 2022.
Polly joined the Trust in 2017, and has responsibility for leading the Strategic Development of the Trust. This includes being the executive lead for the redesign and rebuild of the site, including leading the work to rebuild a new Urgent Care facility for the hospital. The role also includes developing the Trust’s relationships with other partners, to ensure patients in North Northamptonshire receive an integrated approach to all there care needs and remain as well as possible.
Becky joined Kettering and Northampton Hospitals in October 2021, and has responsibility for leading the Transformation and Quality Improvement agenda across University Hospitals of Northamptonshire. This includes being the executive lead for large-scale transformation programmes across KGH and NGH, supporting and enabling a culture of quality improvement, and the monitoring and tracking of programmes and projects.
Natasha is our Group Chief Digital Information Officer and brings with her a strong track record of leading engaged teams to deliver strategic change for the benefit of patients and staff.
Stuart's career began in electrical engineering. He has worked in both technical and senior management roles in several industries including airports, automotive manufacturing, semi-conductor manufacturing and facilities management. He joined NGH in December 2006 and prior to his current role he was the Head of Estates and Deputy Director of Facilities. Stuart has responsibility for both hard and soft services facilities management as well as our procurement and sterile services departments. 
Suzie joined the Trust in February 2023 and has responsibility for corporate communications and engagement. Suzie, who is a former journalist, has years of experience of leading communications in both the public and charity sector. Most recently she was Deputy Director of Communications and Engagement at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. Suzie is passionate about staff engagement, honest and open communication, empowering teams to deliver continuous improvement and putting the patient at the heart of what we do.
Andrew’s commercial background is in retail where he held a variety of senior positions including Directorships at Marks & Spencer, Chief Merchandising Officer at Asda-Walmart and Chief Commercial Officer at Wilko. He has also worked in South Africa where he started his own Retail Consultancy and partnered with Woolworths SA. He retains a close connection with the retail sector through his advisory work with corporate investor institutions.
Jill has been a non-executive director of Northampton General Hospital since May 2018 and was appointed to the Kettering Board in December 2023 as part of work to further collaboration between the hospitals. She is currently a registered nurse and has worked as a midwife and health visitor. Jill has had experience in all sectors of healthcare, clinically and managerially within primary and secondary care. As a Northampton board member she has been responsible for patient services, quality, medicines optimisation and children, young people and maternity commissioning. Jill was previously Chief Nurse for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG and is now a Maternity Clinical Lead within the national Maternal and Neonatal Health Safety Collaborative. 
Trevor has extensive experience in the NHS and was Finance Director of Central and Northwest London NHS Foundation Trust.
Damien has 23 years experience in the IT service industry.
Ballu possesses extensive experience and skills in strategic management, governance, and community regeneration. Derived from voluntary roles, including serving as a Non-Executive Director (NED) at the University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL), Associate NED at East Midland Ambulance Service (EMAS) and Chair of Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket Foundation. Director of Leicestershire County Cricket Club. Additionally, Ballu chaired the Bede Island Community Association (BICA) for five years, an umbrella community organization that, in collaboration with private and public sector entities, secured over £200 million for the regeneration of Leicester's West End.