Our Board
The Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing the work and services of the Foundation Trust and setting our strategic future. The Board consists of both executive directors (employed directly by the Trust) and non-executive directors (appointed by the Council of Governors).
Please click on a Director below to find a personal profile, highlighting some of their accomplishments, qualifications and other background information. To view an organisational chart of our directors click here. *Denotes members of the Board with voting rights.
If you wish to attend the next NHFT Trust Board meeting then please the panel on the left side of this page for the details.
Crishni Waring - Chair*
Crishni joined NHFT as Trust Chair in 2016 and is currently serving her second term. In 2018 the Trust achieved, and has since retained, an overall rating of Outstanding from the CQC including Outstanding for Well-Led. The Trust also won the 2018 HSJ Trust of the Year Award. Crishni has significant experience of leadership at senior level, both executive and non-executive. She joined NHFT from Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust (CWPT), another Community and Mental Health Trust where she was a Non-Executive Director for over five years. Whilst at CWPT, she chaired two different Board Committees and was appointed Senior Independent Director.
In summer 2020, Crishni was invited to Chair the newly-established NHS Midlands Region People Board. She is also a member of the NHS People Directorate’s Health and Wellbeing Advisory Board, chaired by Dame Carol Black. Most recently, Crishni was recognised by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) as being one of the top 100 most influential BAME figures in health for her outstanding work in the NHS.
She has a background in change management and organisational development and is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development. She has worked across all sectors and has a diverse industry background encompassing healthcare, education, retail and logistics. She is currently also the Chair of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, a charity with a mission to protect local wildlife and wild places.
Maria Wogan - Deputy Chair*
Maria has held senior positions in national and local health organisations and local government and has over 15 years of board level experience of working in the NHS as a commissioner, provider and regulator. Mari
a has a masters degree in Public and Social Administration and is a qualified Chartered Secretary. Maria has extensive experience in corporate governance, planning and strategy and has a track record in delivering significant transformation programmes, managing people, budgets and projects. Most recently, Maria was the Executive Lead for System Redesign in the Bedfordshire, Luton and MK Sustainability and Transformation Partnership. Maria is a Member of the Inspiring Futures Through Learning Multi-Academy Trust and Chair of Arts for Health MK.
Nicky McLeod - Non-Executive Director*
Nicky started her career by training as a General Nurse in London and then after some extensive traveling went on to work in the Pharmaceutical Industry for 11 years in sales and marketing roles. After 11 years Nicky moved back 
into direct Healthcare taking a role in Cygnet Health Care, an Independent Mental Health Care provider.
After 10 years she became the Chief Operating Officer of a National Company with 22 Hospitals. At the same time she took on a School Governor role for 5 years. Nicky has a focus and a passion for organisational culture based on values and extensive experience in in-patient specialist mental health services.
Moira Ingham - Non Executive Director*
A registered nurse, Moira has worked in several NHS trusts in the south and east of England, specialising in critical, high-dependency care, including the management of a 35-bed respiratory medicine unit. With a Master of Science from Kings College, Moira has held several senior academic roles at the University of Northampton latterly as Dean of the School of Health. Since leaving in 2016, Moira has worked freelance on curriculum design and is a clinical assessor for the NMC international test of comptetence. She is currently studying for a Doctor of Business Administration in higher education management at the University of Bath.
Alastair Watson - Non Executive Director*
Alastair is currently Investment Director at Innisfree, a leading infrastructure investment group. He has twenty years of project finance and infrastructure experience and has worked in both the public and private sectors for businesses that range from start-ups to large multi-national corporates. He has worked in roles covering audit, financial advisory, equity and debt investment and he currently sits as a magistrate on the Leicestershire and Rutland bench. Alastair is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Scott Adams - Non Executive Director*
Scott is Director of Integrated Health and Social Care within Major and Public Sector of British Telecom and has responsibility for the definition and investment prioritisation of major and public sector growth strategy. His role is also aligned to the NHS and local government care providers. Scott has worked for British Telecom for 19 years at senior managerial and director level and has experience in delivering transformational growth programmes. Scott has a Master’s degree in Business Administration.
Melanie Hall - Non Executive Director*
Melanie has 15 years of board experience within the Life Sciences and Healthcare Sector, starting with the NHS Logistics Authority and latterly as Global Special Projects Officer at DHL, Global Life Sciences and Healthcare Division. Having worked as a partner with the NHS for much of her career, Melanie has a wealth of experience in business and service transformation, and an excellent understanding of the challenges and broad strategic direction of the NHS. Melanie also brings knowledge and high standards of quality assurance and governance levels in regards to CQC standards and audits.
Angela Hillery - Chief Executive*
Angela has worked within the NHS for over 30 years and has held a variety of leadership positions during this time, including Director of Operations.
In 2017 & 2018 Angela was listed in the Health Service Journal's Top 50 rated Chief Executives and in 2015 was a finalist for 'Chief Executive of the Year' at the HSJ Awards. Angela’s ethos is in her commitment to upholding values and developing compassionate cultures for those we for those we care for and work with. Co-production and involvement with patients, service users and carers is a priority at NHFT with many notable projects underway, including the ‘Moving Ahead’ project to deliver equalities in mental health services for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.
In 2018 the Trust achieved an overall rating of Outstanding from the CQC and also won the 2018 HSJ Trust of the Year Award. Angela has a clinical background as a Speech and Language therapist and has served on the National Management Board of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy and held a partner role with the Health Professional Council.
In August 2017 Angela took on the lead role for the Northamptonshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan in Northamptonshire Angela is passionate about parity of esteem for Mental Health services and has family experiences that drive her commitment to continual improvements.
In 2019 Angela was appointed Chief Executive of Leicestershire Partnership Trust, in a shared role with NHFT.
Julie Shepherd - Chief Nurse*
Julie leads by example and has had a nursing career spanning over 35 years, with many years in senior leadership roles and five years as Director of Nursing, Allied Health Professionals and Quality. Julie regularly spends time with clinical services to ensure she understands patient/carer needs and staff challenges. Julie is on the cutting edge of innovation and quality improvement. Through her approach to quality and patient safety, Julie has been instrumental in improving the CQC’s rating of ‘requires improvement’ in 2015 to ‘outstanding' in 2018 by working with staff and colleagues at Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust. Julie is passionate about safe, quality care and has ensured that this has remained at the foundation of all her strategic planning. She has a leadership role as one of the joint Nurses in the Northamptonshire STP (Health Care Partnership) and holds a Master’s degree in managing partnerships in health and social care. During her career Julie has spent a period of time working in social care. .
David Maher - Deputy Chief Executive
David Maher has joined us from North East London Integrated Care System, where he was Managing Director for the City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and Senior Responsible Officer for Mental Health, Community Based Care and End of Life Care across north east London. David has a long, successful track record working in mental health, learning disability and autism services and is passionate about people and communities; during his time with the Sustainable Development Unit he supported NHS and Public Health England’s work on social and environmental sustainability. David joined NHFT in April 2021 as Deputy Chief Executive and confirms ‘kindness is the basis of all good relationships’ and he hopes to bring NHFT’s values to the foreground of new ways of working locally.
Jean Knight - Chief Operating Officer
Jean has a wealth of operational management experience both within the NHS and the private sector. Jean first joined the NHS in 2007 and has mainly managed a variety of services predominantly in the Acute Hospital Sector. She joined NHFT in 2017 as the Deputy Director of Adult and Children’s Services and after a selection process was appointed to COO in March 2020. Jean holds a Masters in Healthcare Leadership and has completed the NHS Leadership Elizabeth Garrett Anderson programme. Jean is committed to the values of NHFT and working in partnership to make a difference for teamNHFT and our population.
Chris Oakes - Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development
Chris brings with him an abundance of experience within healthcare, both in the NHS and the independent sector. He has been involved in developing high quality human resources (HR) services and leading significant culture change and organisational development (OD). Chris was Director of the Workforce and OD at the Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and prior to that was the director of HR at St Andrew's Healthcare. Chris is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. He has an MBA from Cass Business School (City University) and recently completed an MSc in Leadership at the University of Birmingham.
Richard Wheeler - Chief Finance Officer
Richard is a Chartered Accountant with 14 years of NHS experience, starting in 2005 as Head of Finance at the Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Strategic Health Authority. He was then appointed Deputy Director of Finance at Oxford University Hospitals and prior to joining the Trust was Director of Finance for East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS).
Richard has a maths degree and was awarded Healthcare Finance Managers Association (HFMA) Deputy Finance Director of the Year in December 2012. He was Finance Lead for the Northamptonshire Health and Care Partnership (previously known as STP or Sustainability and Transformation Partnership) from July 2016 to December 2018.
Paul Sheldon - Director of Finance*
Paul Sheldon joined NHFT from South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) where he was Chief Finance Officer since 2017 and also the Sustainable Transformation Partnership (STP) Finance Lead for Coventry and Warwickshire.
Paul has worked in the public sector for over 26 years, beginning his career in social services finance, before spending the last 20 years working in the NHS. He has a long and successful track record in various commissioning organisations; from Health Authorities to Primary Care Trusts to CCGs. Paul joined NHFT in March 2021 as part of a hand over with Richard Wheeler before moving to fully accountable Director of Finance for NHFT from 1 April 2021.
Dr Itai Matumbike - Medical Director*
Itai has a wealth of experience in senior leadership roles including Medical Revalidation and Job Planning Lead, Professional Standards and Workforce Lead, Chair of the Medical Cabinet in the Nottingham Integrated Care System, and as a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at Rampton High Secure Hospital, The Wells Road Centre Low Secure Hospital, HMP Moorland and HMP Doncaster in the mental health in-reach teams.
Dr Matumbike joins us from his role as Interim Executive Medical Director at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, one of the country’s largest integrated mental health and community providers and has experience as an Associate Medical Director and Deputy Responsible Officer.
Itai has a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, Master of Medical Sciences in Clinical Psychiatry, a CCT in Forensic Psychiatry and is a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
David Williams - Director of Strategy and Business Development
David was a Locality Director for NHS England in the West Midlands. David was responsible for commissioning primary care, dentistry and public health services as well as supporting a number of Sustainability TransformationPartnerships. In addition to his r
ole within NHS England, David was also the Accountable Emergency Officer for the West Midlands with the responsibility for ensuring the NHS was prepared and able to respond to major incident situations. David has a wealth of education, voluntary sector and healthcare experience as well as experience in partnership working and developing ways to work differently.