Our Trust board

Non-executive directors

  • Linda Burke
    Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director

Executive directors

  • Patricia Wright
    Chief Executive

  • Jason Seez
    Deputy Chief Executive, Director of Strategy and Senior Responsible Officer, Hospital Redevelopment Programme

  • Gubby Ayida
    Medical Director

  • Jon Bell
    Chief Finance Officer

  • Tina Benson
    Chief Operating Officer

  • Melanie van Limborgh
    Director of Nursing

  • David Searle
    Director of Corporate Affairs (non-voting)

  • Jo Fanning 
    Interim Chief People Officer (non-voting)

  • Steve Wedgwood
    Interim Director of Operational Estates and Facilities (non-voting)

Declaration of interests_Directors 2022-23.pdf [pdf] 455KB

Chair

Matthew Swindells, chair

Matthew Swindells Matthew Swindells has over 30 years’ experience in healthcare. He is the former deputy chief executive and chief operating officer for the NHS in England, currently working as an independent consultant.

Matthew joined the NHS from university as a graduate trainee and worked his way up as an IT director, clinical services manager, chief operating officer and hospital chief executive before joining the Department of Health as senior policy advisor to the Secretary of State for Health and then as the NHS’s first chief information officer.

Matthew is a member of the University Council at Hull University and holds visiting professorships at Surrey University and at Imperial College Institute of Global Health Innovation.

Matthew is chair, responsible for 12 hospitals across four NHS trusts in north west London: Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust.

Non-executive directors

Linda Burke

Linda Burke Linda is a non-executive director of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. She is also a non-executive director of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, a school governor, and a trustee for Medical Justice Charity. She was a councillor for the London Borough of Ealing from 2018-2022. 

Linda has extensive experience as a senior executive with board experience in health, higher education and not-for-profit organisations most recently as executive director, education and quality at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Previous leadership experience includes roles as pro vice chancellor at the University of Greenwich, head of revalidation at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, head of strategy and development at NHS London and associate dean at St George’s Medical School and Kingston University. Linda is a registered nurse with a specialist qualification in oncology. She has a PhD and a master’s in education and is a qualified coach.

Nilkunj Dodhia

Nilkunj Dodhia Nilkunj has has diverse experience as an executive and non-executive director with interests in telecommunications, healthcare and financial services.

Nilkunj was previously with McKinsey & Company and also served as chairman of the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC) and as non-executive director of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. Nilkunj has an MBA from INSEAD and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Dr Vineta Bhalla

Vineta Bhalla Vineta is a non-executive director of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust and The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Vineta is a medical doctor and public health expert. Her special interest is in long-term conditions and community care. She has held senior roles within the Department of Health and the NHS. She has previously served as the executive director for hospitals at the Singapore Ministry of Health and held positions on various national and international boards.  

Besides working in national strategic and regulatory roles, Vineta values her front-line clinical and operational management experience. She is passionate about patient-centred care and reducing variation in healthcare delivery. She also has extensive experience in healthcare IT development and adoption.

Nick Gash

Nick Gash Nick is a non-executive director of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He has extensive leadership experience, including as chief executive of the National Union of Students and running a successful public affairs consultancy. 

Nick served as chair of West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust until its incorporation with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in 2015. He continued as a non-executive director for Chelsea and Westminster until 2022, chairing its audit and risk committee. He is also chair of the Royal Society of Medicine’s audit and risk committee.

Steve Gill

Steve Gill Steve is vice chair of the board of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and a non-executive director of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 

Steve has had an international executive career in the IT industry, including chief executive roles with Hewlett-Packard in the UK, Korea and China. He has held various non-executive director roles including advising the UK government on IT in education. Steve qualified as a chartered accountant with PwC in London and has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning, talent and succession planning, organisational development, risk management and disaster recovery. Steve has been the chair of trustees of Age Concern (Windsor) since January 2018.

Catherine Jervis

Catherine Jervis Catherine is vice chair of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a non-executive director of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Catherine’s professional experience is in governance, financial and performance management and change management across a range of public, not-for-profit and private sector organisations. She holds a range of non-executive roles including vice chair at The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, vice chair and non-executive director at First Community Health and Care (community interest company or CIC), non-executive director and senior independent director with Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust, and non-executive director with Achieving for Children (CIC) and the Independent Office for Police Conduct. 

Prior to this, Catherine was business development director and strategic advisor to the chief executive of Achievement for All 3As, a national education charity set up to transform the lives of vulnerable children, and director for PwC where she led the children’s services team delivering services across education, health and social care. Catherine is a qualified accountant.

Professor Desmond Johnston

Professor Desmond Johnston Professor Desmond Johnston is the Head of the Diabetes Endocrinology and Metabolism section at the Imperial College of London.

He was educated at the University of Edinburgh where he attained his MB ChB. He obtained his PhD from the University of Southampton. In July 2005, he was appointed Director of the Department of Health-sponsored UK Diabetes Research Network (UKDRN) and in 2015 he became Head of Cluster A (Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, Stroke, Kidney Disease and Metabolic and Endocrine Disease) of the NIHR Clinical Research Network. He is also currently co-Chair of the Council of Healthcare Professionals at Diabetes UK.

Neville Manuel

Neville Manuel Neville is a non-executive director of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 

Neville is an accomplished senior executive with extensive experience operating at board level in the private, public, and third sectors, in both executive and non-executive roles. He is a skilled commercial leader with a proven track record in transformational change, developing and executing strategy, setting up joint ventures, launching new businesses and operational, and profit and loss management in the telecoms, media and technology sectors.

In his corporate career his roles included vice president of BT’s internet business, director of its TV business, and group general manager of strategy. Now focussed on non-executive roles, he currently sits on the boards of the West London NHS Trust and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). He is also a founder/director of a small independent film production company.

Simon Morris MBE

Simon Morris Simon is a non-executive director of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. 

Simon is a qualified social worker. Until the summer of 2018 Simon was chief executive of Jewish Care, one of the top 100 charities in the UK, for 15 years. Prior to that, Simon spent seven years working for the organisation in a variety of senior positions.

Before joining Jewish Care Simon spent 12 years working for local government, spending eight years working for the London Borough of Hounslow. His last job with them was as a commissioning manager for adult services.

Since leaving Jewish Care Simon has been involved in a number of different organisations as a consultant. In 2020, Simon was made an MBE for services to the community. 

Executive directors

Patricia Wright, chief executive

Patricia Wright Patricia was previously Chief Executive of Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust and is well known within NWL as a member of the Provider group in the NWL Health and Care System. 

She is an experienced CEO and comes with extensive experience within the acute sector having been Chief Executive of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Chief Executive of Kings Lynn FT, Director of Operations at West Middlesex University Hospital and Director of Operations, Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust.

Jason Seez, deputy chief executive, director of strategy and senior responsible officer, hospital redevelopment programme

Jason Seez With a strong background in strategic development, Jason joined the Trust in February 2019 from Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust where he was Executive Director of Strategy, Transformation and Infrastructure.

Gubby Ayida, medical director

Gubby Ayida Gubby is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and has been that Trust’s BAME Network and Diversity and Board-level Inclusion Advisor. She is a graduate of Somerville College, Oxford University and St Thomas’s Hospital Medical School, London. Gubby is passionate about women’s eduwcation, as well as equality and inclusion in the workplace; she gives talks on the subject at schools, universities and other organisations regularly, and is a school governor.

With a strong background in NHS management and clinical leadership, Gubby has most recently held the position of Associate Medical Director for Strategic Programmes for the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Prior to that she was Divisional Medical Director for Women’s, Children’s, Neonates, HIV/GUM and Dermatology Services across the two acute hospital sites.

Jon Bell, chief finance officer

Jon Bell

Jon has over 30 years of experience in healthcare finance and joined us in February 2021 from the largest healthcare provider in Abu Dhabi, where he ran the Transformation Programme Office. Prior to that Jon was the Chief Financial Officer at London North West Healthcare and he has held CFO and Finance Director roles in a number of NHS organisations in London. Jon started his career as a trainee in the NHS in north west London and has worked across the acute, commissioning and community healthcare sectors in the UK and abroad. Jon is also a Trustee of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland.

Tina Benson, chief operating officer

Tina Benson Tina's strong leadership experience in the NHS will help to build networks both internally and externally and she will also contribute to broader corporate strategy and the long-term vision of the Trust.

Tina Benson is a qualified radiographer who got her first clinical job at Hillingdon Hospital. This was followed by time at the Royal Free Hospital in a variety of clinical and managerial roles, London North West Hospitals as a manager and Deputy COO, and then Deputy COO, Hospital Director, at West Middlesex Hospital.  

Melanie van Limborgh, director of nursing

Melanie van Limborgh Melanie's career that spans more than 30 years since early days in the Theatres Team at Hillingdon, and one which goes by way of St Mary’s, Oxford, King’s, Ashford and then 23 years at Chelsea and Westminster where Melanie was variously Theatres Manager, General Manager and Deputy Director of Nursing plus nearly two years at the Department of Health.

David Searle, director of corporate affairs (non-voting)

David Searle Previously Director of Strategy at Hillingdon Hospitals he led the successful Foundation Trust application and supported the establishment of the Academic Centre for Health Sciences with Brunel University London.

Prior to joining the NHS in 2007 he enjoyed a 20 year career as a Fleet Air Arm pilot in the Royal Navy where senior roles included second in command of a major warship and the Commanding Officer of a Naval Air Squadron.

He subsequently held a number of commercial roles in the aerospace and defence industries. He is a Chartered Director and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.