Our Board of Directors
Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust is governed by a Board of Directors. It's made up of Executive Directors, appointed to specific roles within the organisation, and Non-Executive Directors, who bring a range of external expertise with them. We also have Group Executive Directors who work across Northampton and Kettering General Hospitals as part of the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Group.
Andrew Moore: Group Chair UHN and UHL
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.
In 2019 he joined the board of Breast Cancer Now charity as a Trustee where he is now Vice Chair. He is committed to helping the charity navigate the many challenges faced by the Not-For-Profit sector and contributing to its strategic development and operational efficiency; he also chairs the Finance & Investment Committee and sits on the Risk & Governance Committee. Andrew believes his business experience in focusing on quality, value and service can help support the KGH team in the next chapter of the hospital’s development.
Andrew was appointed Group Chair UHN and ULN from July 2024.
Richard Mitchell, Joint Chief Executive, UHN and UHL
Richard Mitchell is Chief Executive of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and Chief Executive of the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group.
Richard is proud to work in his local hospitals, and he and his family live in Leicestershire.
Laura Churchward, UHN Chief Executive
Laura joined UHN as Chief Executive on 1st October 2024 from University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), where she was Director of Strategy for seven years.
Laura leads UHN across its two hospitals, working closely with Richard Mitchell, the Joint Chief Executive of UHN and University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) to deliver improvements to patient care, employment, research, education, and finances.
Laura has delivered many achievements across her NHS career. At UCLH, she was responsible for the build and commission of two major new hospitals, including the commission of a proton beam therapy (PBT) service (one of only two for NHS patients in the UK). Laura has extensive experience in service redesign, business case development and project management. Prior to moving into strategy in 2014, she held several senior operational roles at UCLH, including the management of stand-alone sites. Laura is a Northamptonshire resident and has three primary-school aged children who were all born at University Hospitals of Northamptonshire.
Executive directors
Hemant Nemade, UHN Medical Director
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.
Following his appointment as Deputy Medical Director in 2020, Hemant has supported the organisation with some key initiatives from Governance to starting robotic assisted surgical services in Northamptonshire. He was appointed as Medical Director in July 2022, Hemant was appointed as UHN Medical Director in July 2024.
Julie Hogg, UHN Chief Nurse
Julie was appointed UHN Chief Nurse in July 2024 whilst keeping her Chief Nurse role at University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL).
Julie joined UHL in May 2022 from Sherwood Forest Hospitals (SFH), where she served as Chief Nurse since 2019. At the time the Trust was voted Health Service Journal Acute and Specialist Trust of the Year. It became a recognised centre for best practice in women and children's care and laid the foundations for the Nursing and Midwifery Pathway to Excellence accreditation scheme. Prior to her role at SFH, she held the role of Deputy Chief Nurse at the University College London Hospitals for five years.
Sarah Noonan, UHN Chief Operating Officer
Sarah has worked in the NHS for over 20 years and her career has spanned community and acute providers, as well as working for both an integrate care board and the regional NHS England team.
Before joining UHN, she worked as a Director of Operation for East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust covering Urgent and Elective Care.
Sarah joined UHN in January 2024 as Interim Chief Operating Officer. In September 2024, Sarah became UHN Chief Operating Officer.
Richard Wheeler, UHN Chief Financial Officer
Richard joins UHN 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 Kirkpatrick, UHN Chief People Officer
Paula joined Kettering General Hospital as Deputy Director Human Resources and Organisation Development in September 2019 after a career in Human Resources spanning both public and private sectors, including 15 years in policing. Whilst working for Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Paula was part of the HR leadership team that brought together a collaborated Human Resources service across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police forces. Paula was appointed Director Human Resources and Organisation Development in June 2020 and Group Chief People Officer in September 2022.
Paula is passionate about creating a sense of belonging in our organisation. She believes leadership is about supporting teams and individuals to be the best they can be: by ensuring people are healthy and well in the broadest sense; are able to be themselves in the workplace, bringing all their skills and expertise to their role; and are supported and developed to reach their potential.
Polly Grimmett, UHN Director of Strategy
Polly has responsibility for leading the Strategic Development of the two organisations. 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 KGH. The role also includes developing relationships with other partners, to ensure patients in Northamptonshire receive an integrated approach to all there care needs and remain as well as possible. Polly spent much of her career in operational management roles in different acute providers, and also worked in commissioning and community services. Most recently she was part of the merger team at North West Anglia and led the redevelopment of the Stamford hospital site.
Richard Apps, UHN Director of Corporate and Legal Affairs
Richard has worked in health and care for over 25 years, joining the Kettering Board in 2018 and Northampton in 2022, during the formation of the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) NHS Group.
Richard has previously worked in adult learning disability services in Northamptonshire before joining the NHS in Leicestershire in 2005. Richard also worked nationally and regionally with NHS Improvement where he focussed on quality and performance improvement across a range of NHS Trusts. Richard has also held honorary academic teaching posts at local universities.
Rebecca Taylor, UHN Director of Continuous Improvement
Becky joined UHN in October 2021, and has responsibility for leading the Transformation and Quality Improvement agenda across UHN. 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.
Becky spent much of her career in management consultancy supporting different acute providers, community providers, local authorities and NHS national bodies to develop strategies and transform services. She is a Health Foundation Q Community Fellow and is passionate about supporting staff to make things work better for both our patients and our staff.
Stuart Finn, UHN Director of Estates, Facilities and Sustainability
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.
Stuart was appointed UHN Director of Estates, Facilities and Sustainability from July 2024.
Suzie O'Neill, UHN Director of Communications and Engagement
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.
Will Monaghan, Group Chief Digital Information Officer at UHL
and UHN
William joined University Hospitals of Leicester and University Hospitals of Northamptonshire in August 2024, after previously being the CDIO at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton. He has 16 years of NHS experience across acute trusts, NHS England and NHSX. William’s expertise has seen him lead digital transformation from complex acute environments to national programmes. His particular focus on ensuring the voice of colleagues and patients drives what and how technology is used in the organisation. William is focussed on delivering the digital and data strategy across the group and leading the use of new digital technologies and approaches to better support colleagues and patients. Outside the Trust, Will lectures for Imperial College London on the NHS Digital Academy as a Leading Digital Health Practitioner. He is also the digital lead for the East Midlands Acute Provider collaborative (EMAP).
Non-executive directors
Alice Cooper
After studying Psychology, Alice started her professional career at KPMG, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant and later joining the specialist Financial Services Audit team. She later moved to working directly for a large Building Society Group, holding a variety of senior roles in the areas of Risk, Information, Strategy and Planning. Having always enjoyed the people development side of her work, more recently, Alice trained as an Executive and Career Coach, and now combines this freelance role with her other responsibilities, including her non-executive director role.
Alice was born in Kettering and has lived in the area for much of her life. Outside of work and looking after a young family, she is a keen singer, and is also active in children and families work in her local church.
Alice was appointed as a Non-Executive Director for University Hospitals of Northamptonshire from 1st September 2024.
Christopher Welsh
Chris joined NGH on 8th December 2023 as a NED. He has been a NED at Kettering General Hospital, the Trust’s partner in the UHN Group, since 2017.
Chris has held a number of senior and board posts in the NHS, including vascular surgeon and then Medical Director of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He is the Chair of the Yorkshire and the Humber Clinical Senate which provides impartial and independent advice to healthcare organisations. His key interests include patient safety, the quality of services and clinical collaboration and education.
Chris was appointed as a Non-Executive Director for University Hospitals of Northamptonshire from 1st September 2024.
Denise Kirkham
Denise joined the NGH Board in February 2020. As an Executive Resourcing and OD professional, Denise is highly experienced at working with Boards and Executive teams in an advisory and developmental capacity. Qualified to Level A and B in Occupational Testing, Myers Briggs and ILM 7 Executive coaching studies, Denise has held posts at Director level across sectors. Throughout her consultancy career, Denise has led and delivered on executive and NED recruitment, major Culture Change projects, organisational structure reviews and Executive coaching. Through her earlier career in the private sector, Denise developed strong business development and commercial skills, and a clear understanding of Customer Focus.
Denise was appointed as a Non-Executive Director for University Hospitals of Northamptonshire from 1st September 2024.
Jill Houghton
Jill became a non-executive director (NED) at UHN in September 2024, having served as a NED at NGH from May 2018 and across both the boards in the same role since December 2023.
She is a registered nurse and has worked as a midwife and health visitor. She has had experience in all sectors of healthcare, clinically and managerially within primary and secondary care.
Jill has served several boards as a Director of Nursing/Chief Nurse over a period of 12 years. As a UHN board member, she is the Maternity & Neonatal non-executive board champion for NGH and has also been the lead for safeguarding and complaints. She was previously Chief Nurse for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG and has been a Maternity Clinical Lead within the national Maternal and Neonatal Health Safety Collaborative.
Jill is a member of the Clinical Quality Safety and Performance, Remuneration and Appointments, Group Digital & Transformation, Strategic Development and Audit Committees.
Trevor Shipman
Trevor has extensive experience in the NHS and was Finance Director of Central and Northwest London NHS Foundation Trust.
He is a member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants and brings a wealth of experience in audit and finance to the Board.
Trevor was appointed as a Non-Executive Director for University Hospitals of Northamptonshire from 1st September 2024.
Damien Venkatasamy
Damien has 23 years experience in the IT service industry.
He has lots of experience in delivering services to public sector organisations and wants to use this opportunity to work in the public sector and share his experience of delivering complex and challenging change projects.
Damien was appointed as a Non-Executive Director for University Hospitals of Northamptonshire from 1st September 2024.
Caroline Stevens
Caroline Stevens started her career as a community pharmacist in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, moving into hospital pharmacy management. She later became an operating theatre manager and hospital Managing Director.
In 2009 she moved in the charity sector as a senior director at The British Lung Foundation, then Chief Executive at a children’s disability charity. Since 2019 she has been the Chief Executive at The National Autistic Society, a UK wide charity supporting autistic people and their families.
Caroline lives in Northamptonshire. She is a mother of three adult sons, including Jack who is autistic, has severe learning disabilities, and has complex support needs requiring full support 24 hours per day. The experience of being a carer and securing appropriate health and care services for her disabled son has shaped many aspects of her life and career. This makes her determined to strive for safe, high quality health services that are accessible to all.
Caroline was appointed as a Non-Executive Director for University Hospitals of Northamptonshire from 1st September 2024.
Natalie Armstrong
Natalie is the University of Leicester nominated Non-Executive Director on the Board. She is currently Deputy Head of the College of Life Sciences at the University, a role she undertakes alongside her own academic work. Natalie’s academic background is as a social scientist and her research uses social science theory and methods to support the delivery of high quality, safe healthcare. Her interdisciplinary health services research typically involves mixed-methods collaborations with clinical and non-clinical colleagues across and outside the University. Natalie was brought up in Northamptonshire, having been born at Kettering General Hospital. The vast majority of her family still lives in the area served by the hospital, and so she is a frequent visitor back to the local area.
Natalie was appointed as a Non-Executive Director for University Hospitals of Northamptonshire from 1st September 2024.