Our Trust board

Our board now meets as part of a board in common. Members of the public, staff and partners are welcome to join these meetings in person as well as via Teams - the details of the meetings are found on this link:

Board in common meetings

Group Chief Executive of the North West London Acute Provider Group

Professor Tim Orchard

Non-executive directors

• Bob Alexander OBE
  Interim Group Chair

• Carolyn Downs
  Vice-Chair

• Rupert Bondy
  Non-Executive Director

• Tanaka Chiimba
  Non-Executive Director

• Patricia Gallan
  Non-Executive Director

• Nick Gash
  Non-Executive Director

• Martin Lupton
  Non-Executive Director

• Dr Syed Mohinuddin
  Non-Executive Director

• David Moss
  Non-Executive Director

• Mike O'Donnell
  Non-Executive Director

• Baljit Ubhey OBE
  Non-Executive Director

• Professor Catherine Williamson 
  Non-Executive Director

Executive directors

• Lesley Watts CBE
  Chief Executive Officer

• Dr Alan McGlennan
  Managing Director and Chief Medical Officer

• Robert Bleasdale
  Chief Nursing Officer

• Virginia Massaro
  Chief Finance Officer

Directors in attendance

• Robbie Cline
  Chief Information Officer (non voting)

• Kevin Croft
  Chief People Officer (non voting)

• Emer Delaney
  Director of Communications (non voting)

• Peter Jenkinson
  Director of Corporate Affairs (non voting)

• Jason Seez
  Chief Infrastructure and Redevelopment Officer (non voting)

THHFT Register of Interest 2025 - 2026.pdf [pdf] 245KB

Chair

Bob Alexander OBE, Interim Chair

Bob brings over 30 years of board-level experience across the NHS and wider public sector, including senior executive roles at both regional and national level. More recently, he has held a portfolio of non-executive positions, including with London Ambulance Service and South West London ICB.

His extensive leadership experience in finance, governance and system working will provide stability and oversight as we continue to strengthen collaboration across the group and progress our shared priorities.

This comes at a time when there is a strong and sustained focus on reducing waiting times, improving productivity, and delivering high-quality care for our populations. Bob's experience will be invaluable in supporting the group through this next phase, while we begin the process to recruit a permanent Chair.

Non-executive directors

Carolyn Downs CB, vice-chair

Carolyn is the Vice Chair of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Non-Executive Director of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

She is a recently retired chief executive of the London Borough of Brent and was previously chief executive of the Local Government Association. Prior to that, she was deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Justice, chief executive of the Legal Services Commission and chief executive of Shropshire County Council. She has worked in local government in numerous councils for almost 40 years. 

Patricia Gallan, vice-chair

Patricia is a Non-Executive Director of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. She is also a Non-Executive Director for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs as well as the Trade Remedies Authority.  She is an external member of the Council of Queen Mary, University of London, chair of governors at an east London infant and junior school and a member of the Drapers' Multi-Academy Trust.   

A former chief police officer, she began her police career as a graduate entrant in east London rising to Assistant Commissioner, Specialist Crime and Operations of the Metropolitan Police Service, retiring in 2018 with more than 13 years' executive board experience in policing. Patricia was a detective, hostage negotiator and is a qualified barrister. She previously served as Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations - Security and Protection) and also Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Professionalism) in the Met. In addition, she has served in Merseyside Police and the National Crime Squad as a chief police officer as well as completing a secondment to the Home Office.

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.

Martin Lupton

Martin holds the non-executive board role reserved for an academic and is also a member of the Trust's quality and safety committee. Martin joins us following a period as an associate Non-Executive Director of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Martin is the Vice-Dean (Education) for the faculty of medicine at Imperial College London and leads all of the faculty's undergraduate and postgraduate activities. He also works as a consultant obstetrician at Chelsea and Westminster Foundation NHS Trust.

Martin has previously been a member and chair of the ethics committee for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He continues to work as a joint clinical lead for the obstetric cardiac service and for maternal medicine at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and lectures on the Year 5 obstetrics and gynaecology course on medical ethics.

Dr Syed Mohinuddin

Dr Syed Mohinuddin has worked in the NHS for over 25 years. He is a Consultant Neonatologist and leads the pan-London Neonatal Transfer Service. He graduated from the Armed Forces Medical College, India and was awarded the Colonel Malhotra Memorial Gold Medal in medicine. He subsequently moved to the UK and completed his core and higher specialist training in paediatrics and neonatology. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He has a Master's in Medical Leadership from the Bayes Business School and is a Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management group member.

Syed is an experienced educator who has held various training and development positions. He has extensive experience in team training, simulation and human factors. He is a digital and innovation enabler and the clinical lead for the NeoMate App that won the NHS Innovation Acorn Award 2015. He is a member of the Harrow Muslim Community and the Seacole Group. He is passionate about improving the quality and safety of NHS care and reducing healthcare inequalities. Syed also chairs the Quality and Safety Committee and is a Non-Executive Director on the London Northwest University Healthcare NHS Trust board.

Mike O'Donnell

Mike is an experienced Non-Executive Director, CEO and CFO with a proven track record in financial services, the public sector, and other regulated industries. He has a strong network in pensions and local government and is skilled in building collaborative teams and relationships. Mike has chaired various board committees, including audit, risk and remuneration, and has served on investment oversight committees.

With experience as CEO of an FCA-regulated investment company and corporate director in local government, Mike is a qualified accountant with expertise in public sector financial management. He has led corporate functions such as ICT, property, HR, and strategy/communications and has significant experience in complex stakeholder and governance environments.

As a strategic thinker, Mike excels in working with both executive and non-executive teams to develop strategies focused on improvement and customer outcomes. His current NED roles include positions with Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd, XTP Ltd and Local Pensions Partnership Administration. Previous roles include executive board member at London CIV, NED and chair at Homes for Lambeth, and chair of audit and risk and remuneration committees at London Pension Fund Authority. Mike has also served as president of the Society of London Treasurers.

Baljit Ubhey OBE

Baljit is a Non-Executive Director of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. Baljit Ubhey joined the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as a legal trainee in 1992 later qualifying as a prosecutor in London. Baljit has since held many roles including Chief Crown Prosecutor of CPS London.

In January 2017, Baljit was appointed as the Director of Prosecution Policy & Inclusion, leading a policy team within the CPS' operations directorate whilst leading on equality and inclusion across the service. In September 2019 Baljit became the Director of the Strategy and Policy Directorate.

Professor Catherine Williamson

Catherine is a professor of women's health at Imperial College London and also consultant in obstetric medicine at Queen Charlotte's, St Thomas' and King's College Hospitals. She is a fellow and council member of the Academy of Medical Sciences and is an honorary fellow of the RCOG. She is the maternal medicine representative on the RCOG Genomics Committee. Her research focuses on the maternal and foetal aetiology, outcomes and management of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, gestational diabetes mellitus and severe hyperemesis gravidarum. Professor Williamson was chair of the writing group for the EASL Clinical Practice Guideline for Liver Disorders in Pregnancy and is currently writing the FIGO Guidelines on Management of Liver Disorders in Pregnancy.

As director of the Tommy's National Centre for Preterm Birth Research she coordinates a research portfolio that aims to understand the aetiology of preterm birth, develop research-informed interventions and provide improved support for women affected by preterm birth, a complication that affects the pregnancies of many women with obstetric medical disorders.

Executive directors

Professor Tim Orchard, Group Chief Executive of the North West London Acute Provider Group

Tim is Group Chief Executive of the North West London Acute Provider Group (APG), 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. A consultant gastroenterologist by background, he was appointed Chief Executive of Imperial College Healthcare in 2018, having previously served as Medical Director and Divisional Director for Medicine and Integrated Care.

Tim studied medicine at the University of Cambridge, trained at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, and was a research fellow at the University of Oxford. He is Professor of Gastroenterology at Imperial College London and is recognised for his research and teaching in inflammatory bowel disease. He has also held senior national roles in gastroenterology and is Chair of The Shelford Group, a collaboration between ten of the largest teaching and research NHS hospital trusts in England.

Lesley Watts CBE, Trust Chief Executive Officer

Lesley is Chief Executive Officer of our Trust and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

She was also Chief Executive of the North West London Integrated Care System (ICS) until November 2021, and was previously chief executive for East and North Hertfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

A nurse and midwife by training, Lesley has extensive executive managerial experience. In December 2022, Lesley was awarded a CBE in His Majesty the King's New Year Honours for her service to the NHS.

Dr Alan McGlennan, Managing Director and Chief Medical Officer

Alan joined us from Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, where he was Medical Director and CEO of Chase Farm Hospital.

He has extensive leadership experience, having previously worked as a chief clinical information officer, as well as a medical director and chief executive. He has also spent more than 16 years working as a consultant at Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust, with obstetric anaesthesia as a sub-specialty.

Robert Bleasdale, Chief Nursing Officer

Robert is Chief Nurse at The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust . He was previously Chief Nurse and Director of Infection Prevention and Control at St George's University Hospital and has held a number of senior nursing leadership roles in the NHS. He was instrumental in the COVID-19 response, leading the vaccination programme to establish one of the first vaccination clinics in the country. Robert has led several quality improvement programmes, including the development of accreditation systems that raised standards of care, and he was involved in St George's exiting CQC special measures. He has actively promoted partnership working and is passionate about involving staff and patients in key service decisions.

Robert became Deputy Chief Nurse at St George's in 2017, having previously held other senior nursing roles there since 2014. He began his nursing career in acute medicine before moving into emergency care. He is an advanced trauma nursing course instructor and completed his nursing degree at Oxford Brookes University. Robert also holds a master's in Senior Healthcare Leadership from Birmingham University.

Virginia Massaro, Chief Finance Officer

Virginia  has been the Chief Finance Officer at Chelsea and Westminster Trust since 2019, where she was has worked since 2010 (having previously worked in finance teams across other NHS organisations in North West London). She maintains her role at Chelsea and Westminster Trust, undertaking a joint role.