Our Board of Directors


The Board of Directors oversees the work of our trust. Our trust board comprises the chair, chief executive, non-executive directors (NEDS) and executive directors.

The Board of Directors is responsible for ensuring the quality and safety of healthcare services, education training and research delivered by the trust and applying the principles and standards of clinical governance set out by the Department of Health, the Care Quality Commission, and other relevant NHS bodies. It also makes sure that we exercise our functions effectively, efficiently and economically.

We meet once a month in public. The priority item on the agenda each month is the quality report, presented by our medical director and executive director of nursing and quality (chief nurse). The board discusses progress made since the previous meeting and other agenda items, such as activity and finance, as well as discussing strategies for the future.

The Chief Executive is the accountable officer and the executive directors are responsible for the day-to-day management of their respective divisions.

You can contact the Executive and Non-Executive directors through the Trust Secretary on 01623 622515 extension 3245.

A full breakdown of our Executive Directors and Governors can be found here.

  • Claire Ward - Chair

    Claire was appointed Chair in April 2021. Claire has been vice chair of the board and has served on all committees during her period of appointment since May 2013. 

    She is a qualified solicitor (Non practising) who served as MP for Watford between 1997 and 2010. During her time in Parliament Claire held a number of positions including vice chamberlain to Her Majesty’s Household, and Justice Minister. 

    Since 2011 she has held a number of executive and non executive roles in the community pharmacy sector. She continues to work as a director with the Pharmacists Defence Association and providing consultancy to a number of pharmacy organisations and companies. In January 2019 she was appointed as Chief Executive of the Institute for Collaborative Working. She was appointed to the Board of Governors of the University of Hertfordshire in 2018.

    She lives locally in the Newark and Sherwood area with her family.


  • Paul Robinson - Chief Executive

    Paul joined us in May 2015 and has worked in the NHS for more than 30 years. A Chartered Management Accountant, having held two previous director-level roles he was appointed as Deputy Chief Executive in October 2019.

    Paul has wide experience across all sectors of healthcare and has a strong track record of financial performance and delivery. He was part of the team which delivered NHS trust status for Lincolnshire Community Healthcare Services and has also held senior positions in foundation trusts and primary care trusts.

    Paul was appointed as acting Chief Executive on 20 September 2021 and he took on this position permanently in March 2022.


  • David Selwyn - Medical Director and Deputy Chief Executive

    David was appointed Medical Director in December 2019. He was previously the Deputy Medical Director at Nottingham University Hospitals. He has also been appointed as the Trust’s Chief Clinical Information Officer and recently confirmed as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer tasked with strengthening the Sherwood Forest Hospitals clinical voice within the healthcare system.   

    He continues to be actively involved as a clinician, dealing with the competing demands of anaesthesia and adult critical care.  

    David was appointed as the inaugural Director of the Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) in May 2019, tasked with establishing and developing CPOC as a truly cross-organisational, multidisciplinary initiative led by the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA), facilitating cross-organisational working on perioperative care for patient benefit. He has been recently appointed to a second term as CPOC Director. 

    Prior to becoming Director of CPOC, David was the Chairman of the RCoA Clinical Directors’ Network – a national network of medical leaders in anaesthesia, intensive care and pain management. He continues to be a member of College council and representative on a number of the major College quality, safety and professional standards committees and also lectures locally, regionally and nationally on medical leadership. 

    Before beginning his leadership journey, David was a regional advisor for eight years, an inauguralIntensive Care Medicine (ICM) Training Programme Director and a Faculty Tutor.

    In August 2022, David was appointed as Deputy Chief Executive, which he will share with his role as Medical Director. 


  • Phil Bolton - Chief Nurse

    RN, MSc, Honorary Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences

    Phil was appointed as Chief Nurse in May 2022. Phil previously worked in Trauma/Orthopaedics, Urgent and Emergency Care; Geriatrics, Stroke and Neurology; and as Hospital Matron at Newark. He later became Deputy Chief Nurse until September 2020 when he moved to University Hospitals of Derby and Burton as Director of Nursing and then Interim Chief Nurse.

    Phil is committed to putting a strong focus on the fundamentals of care and the key things that matter to our patients and their family members, he also wants us treat each other as we would like to be treated – to be kind, to listen and to be inclusive.


  • Rachel Eddie - Chief Operating Officer

    Rachel Eddie joined us as Chief Operating Officer in July 2022 from Nottingham University Hospitals. Rachel is an experienced senior leader, working at board level as Chief Operating Officer on an interim basis on two occasions over the past three years, with shared responsibility for leadership, development of strategy, planning, performance and governance.

    She is committed to quality and safety, patient and staff experience and has a record of delivering organisational improvements and results through compassionate leadership.

    Her existing network and relationships, locally and regionally, will help strengthen Sherwood Forest Hospitals' place within the new environment of the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System and increased collaboration with partners and stakeholders.

    Speaking after her appointment, Rachel said: "Sherwood Forest is highly regarded for the way compassionate colleagues have continued their improvement journey to deliver safe and effective patient-focused care and services. I am looking forward to meeting my new colleagues as soon as possible."


  • Richard Mills - Chief Financial Officer

    Richard was appointed as Chief Financial Officer in June 2022. Richard previously served as the Trust’s Deputy Chief Financial Officer since April 2019 before becoming its Interim Chief Financial Officer in October 2021, after Paul Robinson became the Trust’s Chief Executive.

    Richard has over 15 years’ experience in NHS finance and, among his other portfolios, will be responsible for overseeing the financial sustainability of the Trust and will take an active role in system-wide partnership working as we move into the new era of statutory integrated care systems.


  • Robert Simcox - Director of People (HR)

    BA, MA, FCIPD

    Robert has been with Sherwood Forest Hospitals as its Deputy Director of People since April 2016. He will also take-up his new position on Friday 10 June, taking over from Claire Teeney who has joined University Hospitals of Leicester.

    Robert will now lead the Trust’s people directorate, which leads on supporting the Trust’s workforce to be the best they can, along with leading system-wide collaboration regarding the people agenda.

    Robert will also help continue to oversee the work that has helped Sherwood Forest Hospitals to be named as the best acute hospital to work for across the East and West Midlands for the past four years in the national NHS staff survey.


  • Sally Brook Shanahan - Director of Corporate Affairs

    Sally Brook Shanahan joined Sherwood Forest Hospitals as the Trust’s Director of Corporate Affairs in May 2023.

    Sally joined the Trust from Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) where her background as a solicitor, her wealth of public service, and her strengths in corporate governance will serve her – and the Trust – well in her new role.

    Sally is the Trust’s Executive lead for Information Governance, Risk Assurance and Community Involvement. She also oversees the work of Trust’s Corporate Secretariat.


  • Steve Banks - Non-Executive Director

    Steve was appointed as a Non-Executive Director in December 2021.

    He has been a Non-Executive Director at the Nottinghamshire NHS Foundation Trust for 6 years, ending in January 2022, and was previously a Governor at that Trust. He is also Chair of The Tinnitus Clinic Ltd and Chair of Governors at Nottingham High School. His previous posts include Director of Professional Standards and Superintendent Pharmacist, IT Director, and a Director of HR all at Boots UK. Steve’s first degree was in Pharmacy and he has since completed an MBA at Nottingham University. He has lived in Nottinghamshire with his family for nearly 30 years.


  • Andrew Rose-Britton - Non-Executive Director

    Andrew was appointed as a Non-Executive Director in April 2022. He has an MBA in Finance from Nottingham University and is a Chartered Accountant.

    His recent experience in the healthcare sector has been as a Board Trustee of the mental health charities MHM and Waymarks.

    Within the NHS he was a Non-Executive Director of Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust from 2004-2008, where he chaired the Audit committee and Finance committee at various times.

    Commercially he was Finance Director and Company Secretary of a retail pharmacy from 1995 to 2012.  He has lived in Nottinghamshire since 1988.


  • Dr. Aly Rashid - Non-Executive Director

    Aly graduated from the University of Manchester in 1982. He trained as an academic GP and gained his MD in 1995 whilst working as a GP in Leicester. He was appointed to the first chair in Primary Care at De Montfort University in Leicester 1998, where he was the head of department researching and publishing widely until he moved to be Associate Director at the National Clinical Assessment Service in London. 

    Aly was Medical Director of the Primary Care Trust in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland from 2009 and is currently Medical Director for NHS England and NHS Improvement, Midlands. He is a visiting Chair at the University of Lincoln, which has recently had its first intake as a new Medical School, aligned to Nottingham Medical School

    Aly has a keen interest in clinical quality and safety, particularly in respect to clinician performance and was part of the team that developed the original performance review procedures for the GMC.


  • Graham Ward - Non-Executive Director

    Graham joined the Board in December 2015.

    Graham is a Chartered Accountant who worked in the accountancy profession and industry before moving into management consultancy where he worked for 16 years with PwC and Deloitte as a senior director.

    Graham was then appointed as commercial director at the University of Nottingham, a position he held from September 2004 until October 2013.

    Within the NHS Graham was appointed as a non-executive director of Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust in November 2004, a role he held for 16 months, before joining Nottingham City PCT/CCG as a non-executive director from March 2007 until November 2015. More recently Graham joined Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Foundation Trust as a non-executive director in August 2019. 

    Graham now runs his own consultancy business and also holds positions as a board member (vice chair) with Acis Group (a housing association) and as a non-executive director with Mission Room Limited, a technology company based in Nottingham.


  • Barbara Brady - Non-Executive Director

    Barbara is a registered general nurse and a specialist in Public Health, who was Director of Public Health for Nottinghamshire until March 2018.

    Barbara lives in Newark and is thrilled to join the Trust, she said: "I am delighted and honored to have been appointed to the Board. I am committed to patients and the delivery of outstanding care."​

    She will combine her Non-Executive position on the Board with occasional consultancy work for the Local Government Association, which supports the Care and Health Improvement programme with local authorities and partners across England.


  • Manjeet Gill - Non-Executive Director

    Manjeet Gill joined the Trust in November 2019.  Manjeet has a range of Board and chief executive level experience across local government and the NHS. She is passionate about health equalities, community engagement and organisational development to achieve the full potential of people in delivering excellent services. 

    Manjeet has experience of system change as strategic commissioner, mental health and local government services including social care and housing. Her transformation experience includes improving corporate and partnership governance and delivery, estate reconfiguration, leadership and cultural change, performance turnaround and customer and digital strategies for new models of service delivery. 

    Her previous roles as a NED have been at a Mental Health Foundation Trust and a national Charity responsible for developing community and voluntary sector groups. 

    Manjeet has advised on national policies as society of local authority chief officers policy lead for housing and leadership and currently for health and well-being. She is also currently a government appointed NED appointed on the independent office for police conduct.


    Main location: King's Mill Hospital

    e-mail: manjeet.gill@nhs.net

  • Andy Haynes MBE - Specialist Non-Executive Advisor to the Board

    Andy was appointed Specialist Non-Executive Advisor to the Board in April 2021. Andy was previously Executive Medical Director from 2014 to 2020.

    Claire Ward, Sherwood Chair said, “Andy knows our Trust and its people extensively and his time at the ICS has given him an additional perspective that will be of great value to the Board as we navigate our way through the changes across Nottinghamshire. Andy will bring his experience and insight of NHS transformation.  We are pleased to see him return and we are really looking forward to working with him.”


  • Mr Neil Mcdonald - Non-Executive Director

    Neil has lived in Nottinghamshire since 1999 and joined the Trust Board as Non-Executive Director in December 2023. He has 38 years’ experience in the rail industry, having started out as an engineering apprentice.

    After 27 years in engineering, he moved into general management as Managing Director of the Industrial Business Unit of EWS Railways/DeutscheBahn (DB), followed by a period as Head of Sales. In 2015, he became the Chief Operating Officer of the first heavy haul Railway in the UAE, a joint venture between DB and Etihad Rail. For five years, he was a Non-Executive Director of the Railway Safety and Standards Board, representing freight members. 

    Since 2018, he has been a member of the Board of Governors for West Nottinghamshire College where has been a member of the Senior Postholder and Governance Committee and Chair of the Audit Committee. 

    He has an MBA from Nottingham Trent University and brings 20 years’ executive management experience to the Trust Board.