NHS Assembly Membership
The Membership was appointed following a national call for expressions of interest.
Members have been selected based on their individual knowledge, skills and experience, not to represent a specific organisation or constituency, and are drawn from across the health and care sector.
Miss Aishah Farooq: Aishah is a pharmacology graduate, and a Board member on the Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme at NHS England.
Mr Alex Fox: Alex is the Chief Executive of the Mayday Trust charity that supports people going through tough times. He is former Chief Executive of Shared Lives Plus and trustee of the Social Care Institute for Excellence.
Mrs Amy Lochtie: Amy is an Innovation Hub Director for West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, and is on the Board of Trustees and Non Executive Director at Bliss.
Sir Andrew Cash: Sir Andrew is the Chief Executive of the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System.
Dr Andy Knox: Andy is a GP in Carnforth, Lancashire and Director of Population Health for the Morecambe Bay Health and Care System.
Professor Dame Anne Marie Rafferty: Dame Anne Marie trained as a nurse and is Professor of Nursing Policy at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care at King’s College London. Dame Anne Marie became President of the Royal College of Nursing in 2019 and was awarded a damehood in 2020.
Dr Bob Klaber: Bob is a Consultant General Paediatrician and Director of Strategy, Research, Innovation and Improvement at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Brian Dow: Brian is Chief Executive of Mental Health UK, a coalition of four mental health charities across the UK. He is also Deputy Chief Executive of Rethink Mental Illness, a charity supporting people with mental illness.
Dr Camilla Kingdon: Camilla is President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), and a consultant neonatologist at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Ms Caroline Abrahams: Caroline is the Charity Director of Age UK.
Dr Carolyn Wilkins: Carolyn is Chair of Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Ms Charlotte Pickles: Charlotte is Director at Reform.
Mr Clenton Farquharson: Clenton is chair of Think Local Act Personal, and an ambassador for Disability Rights UK.
Mr Craig Harman: Craig is Chief Operating Officer at Enhanced Care Services.
Cllr David Fothergill: David is Leader of Somerset County Council and Chair of the Local Government Association Community Wellbeing Board.
David Hare: David is the Chief Executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN).
Diane Davies: Diane is a recent patient carer, and provides advice to national bodies such as the CQC, NICE, and NHS England. She is also a citizen partner, working with local health and social care initiatives in Sheffield.
Mrs Fatima Khan-Shah: Fatima joined the NHS Assembly as a Patient and Public Involvement Lay Member for West Yorkshire and Harrogate Joint Committee of CCGs, and is a Programme Director, West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership.
Dr Gabrielle Anne-Marie Mathews: Gabby is a foundation doctor, an advocate for children and young people’s health, and an #iwill ambassador.
Dr Gary Howsam: Gary is a GP in Peterborough and the Interim Chief Clinical Improvement Officer for NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care Board. He was Vice Chair (External Affairs) of the Royal College of General Practitioners (2019-22).
Dr Habib Naqvi: Habib is Chief Executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, which leads work nationally on identifying and tackling health inequalities.
Hannah Takats: Hannah is an expert by experience at Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation Trust, and an advocate for mental health service users.
Ms Helen Hassell: Helen is a parent carer, a lived experience partner with NHS England experience of care team, an active member of My Life Choices strategic co production group in Nottingham City and County.
Ms Helen Walker: Helen is Chief Executive of Carers UK.
Isaac Samuels: Isaac is a member of the National Co-production Advisory Group, Think Local Act Personal, and the Co-chair of Lived Experience Advisory Group at the Association of Mental Health Providers.
Professor Ivan Browne: Ivan is the Director of Public Health and the Director of Sports Services for Leicester City Council. He has been a consultant in public health in Leicester since 2008.
Mr Jagtar Singh: Jagtar is Chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust.
Jeanette Dickson: Jeanette is the Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
Miss Joan Saddler: Joan is co-chair of the NHS Equality and Diversity Council and is Associate Director of patients and communities at the NHS Confederation.
Ms Joselle Wright: Joselle is a Consultant Midwife at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
Sir Julian Hartley: Julian is the Chief Executive of NHS Providers. Before stepping into the role in February 2023, Julian was Chief Executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals since 2013.
Miss Juliet Bouverie: Juliet is Chief Executive of the Stroke Association.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne: Kamila is Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has worked as a GP in South Wales for 27 years.
Mrs Kendra Schneller: Kendra is a nurse practitioner in London providing primary care to people who are experiencing homelessness, people with addictions and refugee and asylum seekers.
Louise Ansari : Louise is the National Director of Healthwatch England. Prior to this, Louise was Director of Communications and Influencing at the Centre for Ageing Better. Louise’s roles span across local and national government, health bodies and charities including engagement in social policy and local services.
Mr Matthew Taylor: Matthew is Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation.
Michelle Mitchell: Michelle is the Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, a charity dedicated to saving lives through research, influence and information.
Penny Dash: Penny is Chair of NHS North West London Integrated Care System.
Ms Polly Toynbee: Polly is a journalist, who writes for the Guardian and the Observer covering social issues and politics, specialising in the NHS.
Ms Rachel Power: Rachel is the Chief Executive of the Patients Association.
Mr Richard Stubbs: Richard is the Chief Executive of the Yorkshire and Humber Academic Health Science Network.
Professor Rob Webster: Rob is Chief Executive of the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and CEO lead for the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership.
Professor Dame Robina Shah: Dame Robina is the Director of the Doubleday Centre for Patient Experience at the University of Manchester Medical School. She is Professor of Psycho-Social Medicine and Medical Education and Chair of the Doubleday Medical Schools Collaboration for Patient Partnership.
Dr Sarah Clarke: Sarah is a former President of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), and a clinical director for strategic development at Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambridge.
Scott Watkin: Scott is Co-Chair of the Transforming Care Assurance Board, helping to reduce the number of people with learning disabilities staying in hospital, and is a visiting Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire.
Professor Shafi Ahmed: Shafi is a consultant laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgeon at The Royal London and St Bartholomew’s Hospitals and sits on the council of the Royal College of Surgeons.
Tase Oputu: Tase is a pharmacist, Chair of the English Pharmacy Board, and Associate Director of Medicines Optimisation, High Cost Drugs at NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board.
Mr Tim Nicholls: Tim is Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the National Autistic Society.
Dr Vishanka Ratnasuriya: Vish is a practising GP in Birmingham.
Mrs Yvonne Newbold: Yvonne is a learning disability champion who earned the National Learning Disabilities/Autism Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.