How our hospital is run
The Trust Board has overall responsibility for the running of the hospital. They are accountable to our regulators such as NHS Improvement (NHSI) and the Care Quality Commission.
Clare Panniker
Chief Executive
Clare is joint Chief Executive of Southend University Hospital
NHS Foundation Trust, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals
NHS Foundation Trust and Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust.
Prior to joining Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital, Clare
was CEO of North Middlesex University Hospital for 9 years.
A registered nurse, Clare also has a business degree, and has
worked in the NHS for more than 25 years. Clare mentors other
aspiring NHS leaders, from both clinical and management
backgrounds. The Chief Executive is the Accounting Officer for the
Trust and carries full responsibility for the Trust's performance,
forward planning and leadership of the Executive Team and clinical
directors.
Alan Tobias, OBE
Chair
Alan joined us as chairman in December 2011 from his former
position of chairman at West Essex PCT. He is a qualified solicitor
with a strong record of senior management, both in the public and
private sector. For 16 years he was the London Boroughs' Chief
Executive and latterly chairman of an IT company.
Alan was also Chairman of Essex Probation Service for six years
and a board member of Springboard Housing Association as well as a
trustee to two charitable trusts. In February 2019, Alan was
appointed as chairman of Mid Essex Hospital.
Membership of Committees: Finance & Performance Committee in
common (ex-officio), Quality Committee in common (exofficio),
Workforce committee in common (ex-officio), Remuneration and
Nomination Committee in common
Tom Abell
Chief Transformation Officer, Deputy Chief
Executive
Tom Abell joined Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals
Foundation Trust in October 2015 as Deputy Chief Executive. He was
previously chief officer of NHS Basildon and Brentwood Clinical
Commissioning Group. He is an important addition to the Trust
board, bringing valuable experience of health commissioning.
Tom has been involved in several major service transformation
and improvement programmes during his career. He has a special
interest in the role that technology and new ways of working can
play in improving health outcomes for patients, while making
maximum use of valuable resources.
Yvonne Blücher
Managing Director
Yvonne joined Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
in October 2015 as Chief Nurse from 'Barts' where she was Deputy
Chief Nurse for Quality and Governance. Prior to this she spent 10
years as Director of Nursing and Quality at Princess Alexandra
Hospital in Harlow, two years of which she was Director of Nursing
and Operations Director. She completed her nurse training and began
her NHS career at Basildon Hospital before later specialising in
cardiac care. She then moved north to Barnsley where she was
instrumental in setting up first aid centres in the pit mines with
defibrillators.
Yvonne is a fellow of the Institute of Health Improvement and
has a real passion for engaging staff to ensure patients get the
best possible outcomes. Yvonne was appointed as the Managing
Director in December 2016 as part of the Joint Executive Group,
taking full responsibility for day-to-day operational business and
leading on innovation and quality.
Martin Callingham
Chief Information Officer
Martin initially trained as a nurse at the Royal London
Hospital, working in the A&E departments in and around North
East London and Harlow. He made the move into site management and
discharge planning service at Whipps Cross Hospital before moving
to Newham as Head of Modernisation, implementing the first
electronic patient records in 2004. He progressed to the role of
Chief Information Officer at Newham responsible for IT, Information
coding and data quality and following the merger of 'Barts'
Hospital and Whipps Cross Martin was responsible for clinical
systems across six hospital sites.
Martin joined Mid Essex Hospitals NHS Trust in August 2014 to
help deliver, maintain and grow the use of technology and
information across the Trust and to move towards a full Electronic
Health Record in the near future.
Danny Hariram
Chief People & Organisational Development
Director
Danny was previously the Workforce & OD Director at BTUH
since 2015 and has worked in a number of acute and mental Health
Trusts during the last twenty years with extensive experience of
leading significant organisational change.
He works in ensuring high levels of staff engagement and works
to develop an environment that allows for improvements for patients
and staff, allowing staff the help and support to unlock their full
potential.
Diane Sarkar
Chief Nursing Officer
Diane's experience spans the NHS and private healthcare. After
training at The Royal Free Hospital in London, she worked in a
number of London's large acute hospitals and progressed through
several operational and corporate management positions. In 1996,
Diane worked in the private sector at the Wellington Hospital,
setting up new governance frameworks and leading on the quality
agenda. Having completed a Master's degree, Diane returned to the
NHS in 2001 at Southend Hospital, as Associate Director of
Operations for Medicine and then Associate Director of Nursing.
Appointed in 2010, her focus has been particularly around
developing the nursing workforce, as well as leading on a number of
corporate agendas, including quality improvement and the patient
safety and patient experience agenda.
Eamon Malone
Chief Estates and Facilities Director
Eamon joined the MSE Group in December 2018 following a long
Estates and Facilities career in the NHS in Northern Ireland. Eamon
has experience leading estates services through a challenging
merger process and utilising the skills, experience and expertise
of Estates and Facilities colleagues to deliver more focussed and
efficient services. Eamon is a Chartered Building Surveyor and a
Fellow of the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate
Management.
Jonathan Dunk
Chief Commercial Officer
Jonathan joined the MSE Group in May 2018 to provide executive
leadership to lead a variety of key strategic workstreams,
including the future organisational form programme and the
transformation of corporate support services. He has a strong
background in finance, strategy and turnaround director roles, in
both the NHS acute and commissioning sectors, most recently in the
acute sector as Director of Finance at Milton Keynes NHS University
Hospital. Jonathan is a graduate of the NHS Financial Management
Training Programme and holds an NHS Leadership Academy Award in
Executive Healthcare Leadership. Jonathan is a chartered accountant
with CIPFA.
Dawn Scrafield
Chief Finance Officer
Dawn is a highly experienced, values driven senior NHS leader
with a strong reputation as an effective problem solver, with
drive, determination, energy and imagination to deliver high
quality, cost effective services to patients. Dawn is a qualified
and seasoned finance professional with over 23 years' experience at
senior and board levels, with a successful track record of
achievements operating as a Director and Deputy Chief Executive in
complex multi-site NHS organisations. Prior to Mid and South Essex
Hospitals Group, Dawn supported the successful merge of Colchester
and Ipswich Hospitals, to form East Suffolk and North Essex
Foundation Trust. A strong team player with an excellent
reputation for achieving significant results across a broad range
of portfolios including, corporate leadership and strategy,
financial improvement, performance management, and turnaround in
challenged organisations.
David Walker
Chief Medical Officer
David has worked as a doctor for over 30 years and has held
executive director positions in a number of NHS organisations since
2001. He has wide research experience in the field of infectious
diseases and epidemiology. He has held academic roles up to
professorial level in several UK Universities and was formerly a
visiting scientist at the Centres for Disease Control in Atlanta,
USA.
Prior to this appointment David has been the Deputy Chief
Medical Officer for England and Executive Medical Director for an
acute Trust in the North West region.
Non-executive Directors (NEDs)
Fred Heddell, CBE
Non-executive Director
A former teacher of children with learning disabilities, Fred
was formerly Chief Executive of the national charity Royal Mencap,
working alongside the comedy actor and campaigner Lord Brian Rix.
Since then he has acted as treasurer of Inclusion International,
working in Africa, Eastern Europe and Central America to help
develop inclusive services for people with disabilities. He has
also been a non-executive director of the Commission for the
Compact, a member of the Strategic Health Authority independent
competition panel, a governor of the University of East London and
trustee of several voluntary organisations. Fred is a trustee of
the Rix Rothenberg Thompson Foundation, a trustee of Teen Talk
Harwich and Trustee of signpost.
Membership of Committees:Quality Committee in common,
Remuneration and Nomination Committee in common, Audit Committee in
common, Charitable Funds Committee in common(Chair).
David Parkins, FCA, (Deputy Chairman)
Non-executive Director
David is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants
(FCA) and has held a number of senior finance roles in the banking
sector. Following a period as finance director with Mortgage
Express, part of the Lloyds TSB Group, he was finance director for
lending and savings with the Bradford and Bingley group. David has
had executive responsibility for audit and experience of corporate
governance, joint ventures, treasury and management control
systems. He is treasurer and trustee of Headway Essex, a charity
that helps people who have suffered brain injury and their
families.
Membership of Committees: Finance &Performance Committee in
common (Chair), Remuneration and Nomination Committee in common,
Audit Committee in common.
Mike Green, BSc (Econ), FCA
Non-executive Director
Mike qualified as a chartered accountant with what is now KPMG,
and spent 11 years with the audit practice before a 20-year career
in the broadcast media industry. He held senior finance roles at
TVS Television Limited and Carlton Communications plc and was
involved in the Carlton/Granada merger which formed ITV plc.
Following the merger, Mike moved to ITV and ultimately held the
role of deputy group finance director. He now acts as a business
consultant and is also currently a Board member of Anchor Hanover
which specialises in the provision of housing for older people, an
honorary treasurer of the Royal Television Society and a Non-
Executive director of the Copyright Hub Foundation Limited. Mike is
also the Trust's Senior Independent Director (SID).
Membership of Committees: Finance & Performance Committee in
common, Remuneration and Nomination Committee in common, Audit
Committee in common.
Tony Le Masurier, J.P, BA (Hons)
Non-executive Director
Tony joined the Trust board in December 2012. His background is
in senior management in the aviation and travel industry, serving
as a director and CEO of several large international companies over
three and a half decades.
He acted as Interim Chief Officer for the Southend Association
of Voluntary Services (SAVS) for two years, and was previously a
non-executive director of the local primary care trust for eight
years, holding the position of vice chairman for three of those. He
is currently a supplemental JP, having retired from sitting in the
Family and Adult courts in January 2018, and the chairman of a
local care home charity that operates two homes in the borough of
Southend-on-Sea.
Membership of Committees: Finance & Performance Committee in
common, Remuneration and Nomination Committee in common, Audit
Committee in common
Tim Young
Non-executive Director
Tim joined the Trust Board in December 2012. He has more than
ten years' experience in the health sector and was also on the
board of Essex Probation Service for nine years. He is a member of
the labour party, Colchester borough council and Unite the Union
and a Trustee of Firstsite Ltd and Greenstead Community
Association. Tim is also director of Colchester Presents Community
Interest Company and an Independent Director of North Essex Garden
Communities Limited. Tim took over the post of board champion for
health and safety from 1 April 2013.
Membership of Committees: Quality Committee in common, Workforce
Committee in common, Remuneration and Nomination Committee in
common, Charitable Funds Committee in common.
Gaby Rydings
Non-executive Director
Gaby is a qualified accountant who previously worked at the
National Audit Office and the Parliamentary watchdog that audits
public spending and evaluates the value for money of government
projects and programmes. She was a member of the NAO Board for ten
years with specific responsibility for policy, communications and
relations with Parliament and Government.
Gaby lives in Leigh-on-Sea and is also a trustee and board
member of Southend Association of Voluntary Services (SAVS).
Membership of Committees: Workforce Committee in common.
Gail Partridge
Non-executive Director
Gail Partridge is a registered nurse who trained and worked at
Southend Hospital within the surgical directorate from 1981 until
2002 and was appointed as a Non-Executive Director in December
2016. She has clinical and operational management experience within
a variety of health economy settings including acute hospitals,
community and mental health services, commissioning support unit as
Associate Director of clinical services and Deputy Director of
Nursing in NHS England Essex area team. Her extensive experience of
working within the NHS has been particularly focused on governance,
quality and patient safety, and risk management functions. Gail
currently works as a Director for Quality for Health Ltd.
Membership of Committees: Quality Committee in common, Workforce
Committee in common.
Site leadership team (SLT)
The site leadership team are responsible for overseeing the
day-to-day running of the hospital.
Yvonne Blücher
Managing Director
Yvonne joined Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
in October 2015 as Chief Nurse from 'Barts' where she was Deputy
Chief Nurse for Quality and Governance. Prior to this she spent 10
years as Director of Nursing and Quality at Princess Alexandra
Hospital in Harlow, two years of which she was Director of Nursing
and Operations Director. She completed her nurse training and began
her NHS career at Basildon Hospital before later specialising in
cardiac care. She then moved north to Barnsley where she was
instrumental in setting up first aid centres in the pit mines with
defibrillators.
Yvonne is a fellow of the Institute of Health Improvement and
has a real passion for engaging staff to ensure patients get the
best possible outcomes. Yvonne was appointed as the Managing
Director in December 2016 as part of the Joint Executive Group,
taking full responsibility for day-to-day operational business and
leading on innovation and quality.
Neil Rothnie, MS, FRCS
Medical Director and Clinical Safety Officer (CSO)
Neil qualified as a doctor from St. Bartholomew's Hospital in
London in 1981. He undertook postgraduate surgical training in and
around London, including a stint as a surgical registrar at
Southend Hospital in the 1980's. A period in cancer research at
Bristol Royal Infirmary and The Royal Free Hospital led to the
award of a Master of Surgery degree from the University of
London.
He was a senior registrar at St. Bartholomew's Hospital prior to
his appointment as a consultant general surgeon at Southend
Hospital in 1994.
Neil established the specialist Breast Unit at Southend and
developed the 'open access' hernia service. He is the director of
screening for South Essex Breast Screening Service and lead
clinician for breast services.
He has spent 16 years as the surgical lead to the Regional
Quality Assurance team for the NHS Breast Screening Programme and
has chaired the National Breast Screening Audit for the last five
years.
Neil was appointed as Medical Director in December 2012.
Clare Burns
Director of Operations, Elective Care
Clare Burns joined the Trust with over 12 years of experience
working for the NHS in community services, acute trusts and NHS
England.
Caring for other people is something which Clare is very
passionate about, and she has worked in local care homes, social
services and for Coventry City Council, working in residential care
for older people. Clare has worked for Princess Alexandra and Mid
Essex hospitals as well as South West Essex PCT, commissioning
services at Basildon and Thurrock Hospital, and worked with
Southend's Managing Director Yvonne Blücher at Princess Alexandra
hospital in Harlow.
Clare is local to Southend and the hospital has been a key part
of her life. Clare says her role is something she really wants to
do and what makes it really special is the fact that it's here at
Southend.
Mike Quinn
Director of Operations, Unscheduled Care
Mike joined the Trust in January 2019 bringing with him over 30
years of experience working in healthcare across the NHS,
third-sector and private sector as well as a period working outside
of the UK jurisdiction as Director of Hospitals' for the Isle of
Man Government.
A nurse by profession, Mike trained in Liverpool before
developing his clinical interests in oncology and palliative
care. His first senior management role was as Director of
Palliative Care services for Marie Curie Cancer Care in
Surrey before moving back to the NHS in a General Manager role at
King's College Hospital where he managed the Trust's portfolios for
Liver and Renal Services, Cardiac and Neurosciences and led the
development of King's Private and International
business.
Mike went on to develop his commercial interest as Executive
Director of the London Independent Hospital in London's east end
before returning to NHS management in Portsmouth.
Denise Townsend
Director of Nursing, Director of Infection Prevention and
Control (DIPC) and Caldicott Guardian
Denise qualified as an Adult Registered Nurse in 1993 and joined
Southend in 1994 as a Staff Nurse in Accident and Emergency.
Following completion of her paediatric nurse training, Denise
continued to work as an Adult and Paediatric Nurse in A&E,
later becoming an Emergency Nurse Practitioner before taking on the
role of Lead Nurse for Medicine.
After a period as Associate Director for the Emergency
Department, Denise took on the role of Lead for Corporate
Governance in 2011, becoming Associate Director of Nursing in 2015
and then Director of Nursing at the end of 2016.
Denise works closely with her leadership team colleagues to
ensure that quality and safety run through every aspect of the
services provided at Southend.
Louisa Cowell
Director of Finance
Louisa has come to Southend Hospital from the Cambridgeshire and
Peterborough health system where she has had roles both at the CCG
and Community and Mental Health Trusts in the area. She is
pleased to be working in an acute hospital and believes that many
of the savings we can make come from delivering better patient
care, particularly through the focus of improving patient flow.
Sue Bridge
Head of Human Resources
Sue has worked in Human Resources for Southend Hospital for over
10 years. Her experience and knowledge of the Trust and the people
that work here is invaluable. Sue joined Southend Hospital as
an Employee Relations Advisor and worked her way to HR Business
Partner and then Deputy Head of HR Operations and is now Head of
Human Resources at the Trust.
Sue believes that a professional and compassionate working
environment is important, particularly in challenging times.
"During my time here I have realised that our values need to be
present and centred in everything we do. We need to support and
encourage each other. Successful change needs small steps, and it's
a two-way process. I am keen that we are always ready to listen to
each other to support and share best practice and we create a safe
space to do that."
Charlotte Dillaway
Director of Delivery
Charlotte joined Southend University Hospital in 2019 from
Southend and Castle Point and Rochford CCGs, where she held the
post of Director of Strategy and Planning. An accountant and
programme director by background, Charlotte has worked in both the
private and public sectors and has extensive experience in all
aspects of corporate services and operational management.
Charlotte said: "My career ambition was to move to the NHS -
I've moved my family to the area so this is my local hospital now,
and I intend to use my skills and experience to help make the
changes that need to be made to ensure every patient has a good
experience in our hospital and our staff are able to do their job
to the best of their abilities."
If you have questions about your care or the care of a relative
please contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at PALS@southend.nhs.uk.