Appointment of Health and Social Care Trust Non-Executive Directors

The Department of Health has announced the appointment of 14 Health and Social Care Trust Non-Executive Directors.

For Belfast Health and Social Care Trust Professor Catherine Ross has been appointed as a Non-Executive (Lay) Director along with Patricia Gordon who has been appointed as the Mater Hospital Representative.  Both appointments commenced on 4 December 2023 and will end on a date not later than 3 December 2027.   John Conaghan, and Joe McVey have been appointed as Non-Executive (Lay) Directors from 1 January 2024 to a date not later than 31 December 2027.  David Small has also been appointed as a Non-Executive (Lay) Director from 1 February 2024 to a date not later than 31 January 2028.

Norman McKinley has been appointed to the South-Eastern Health and Social Care Trust as a Non-Executive (Lay) Director. His appointment commenced on 1 January 2024 and will end on a date not later than 31 December 2027.

New appointees to the Northern Health and Social Care Trust are Carol Diffin and Professor Terri Scott as Non-Executive (Lay) Directors.  Their appointments commenced on 18 December 2023 and will end on a date not later than 17 December 2027.   Kathy Mackenzie has been appointed as a Non-Executive (Finance) Director from 1 February 2024 to a date not later than 31 January 2028.

New appointees to Southern Health and Social Care Trust as Non-Executive (Lay) Directors are Elizabeth Ensor and Rob Lynas. Elizabeth Ensor’s appointment commenced on 1 January 2024 and will end on a date not later than 31 December 2027.  Rob Lynas has been appointed from 15 February 2024 to a date not later than 14 February 2028. 

Phelim Quinn and Paul Corrigan have been appointed to the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Trust as Non-Executive (Lay) Directors, and Dr Philip Graham has been appointed as a Non-Executive (Finance) Director. Philim Quinn’s appointment commenced on 11 December 2023 and will end on a date not later than 10 December 2027; and both Paul Corrigan’s and Dr Philip Graham’s appointments commenced on 1 January 2024 and will end on a date not later than 31 December 2027. 

HSC Trust Non-Executive Director positions require a time commitment of one day per week and attract a remuneration of £8,883 per annum.  For NIAST the time commitment is 3 days per month with an annual remuneration of £6,643.

These appointments are made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.

There are six HSC Trusts, each established to provide goods and services for the purposes of health and social care, and with the exception of the Ambulance Trust, they are also responsible for exercising on behalf of the Department certain statutory functions which are delegated to them by virtue of authorisations made under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1994.  Each HSC Trust also has a statutory obligation to put and keep in place arrangements for monitoring and improving the quality of health and social care which it provides to individuals and the environment in which it provides them (Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (NI) Order 2003).

The Board is the governing body of each Trust, and for BHSCT, SEHSCT, NHSCT and SHSCT comprises a Non-Executive Chair and seven Non-Executive Directors along with five Executive Directors including the Chief Executive. The NIAST Board comprises a Non-Executive Chair, five Non-Executive Directors and five Executive Directors.

Notes to editors: 

1. The Department of Health last week has announced the appointment of two Non-Executive Directors to the Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT). More information can be found on our website.
2. Professor Catherine Ross is Chief Scientific Officer for Scottish Government, Scottish Government’s most senior clinical advisor for Healthcare Science, and head of profession for the scientific workforce within the NHS in Scotland.  Catherine is a Visiting Professor at Edinburgh Napier University and Honorary Research Consultant in NHS Lothian. Catherine is a Clinical Scientist and worked in HSC in Northern Ireland for over 25 years, 10 years of which was in the Belfast Trust, as a cardiac physiologist specialising in non-invasive cardiac imaging.  Catherine is Vice Chair of the Science Council and Chair of its Policy Advisory Committee, in addition to being a member of the Board of Trustees. She is the current Secretary/Treasurer and an Executive Board member of the Association of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions (ACNAP) within the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and was previously President of the Society for Cardiological Science and Technology (SCST), the professional body for Cardiac Scientists.  Catherine is a Chartered Scientist and Chartered Biologist and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, the Academy of Healthcare Science, the National Institute of Prevention and Cardiovascular Health in Ireland and the European Society of Cardiology.
3. Patricia Gordon had a career in the Health and Social Care sector where she worked in strategic planning, information and general management roles. She was CEO of the Mater Hospital Trust from 1995-2003 and CEO of the South and East Trust from 2003-2007. From 2008-2018, Patricia was the Northern Ireland Director for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Patricia has served as a member of the Governing Body of Queen's University Belfast; was a member of the Business in Community Board; a member of the NHS Pay Review Body; a Non-Executive Director in the NI Prison Service and in the Business Services Organisation. Patricia is currently a lay member of the Tax Tribunal, an Associate Consultant in the Leadership Centre, Vice-Chair of Strathearn School and a trustee of the charity Family Mediation NI.
4. John Conaghan has had a varied career working in senior positions within the Pharmaceutical Industry and the local Community & Voluntary Sector. From 1992-2009 John worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Healthcare Development and Regional Business Manager roles across the UK and Ireland. From 2009-2023 he worked at Inspire, an all-island mental health charity. From 2017-2023 John was the Group Director for Therapeutic & Wellbeing Services at Inspire, holding strategic responsibility for the delivery of mental health and wellbeing services to over 200 organisations. Since 2009 John has served as a school governor in both primary and post-primary schools and from 2009-2016 he was Chair of the SE Belfast Scout Association. John is a passionate supporter of the Community and Voluntary and Social Enterprise sectors and a leading expert on Social Value, Compassionate Leadership and Creating Psychologically Safe Cultures in the Workplace.
5. Joe McVey OBE was CEO of Brain Injury Matters (BIM) (NI) until December 2023. Prior to joining BIM (NI) he was a founding partner of Blueprint Development Consultancy working for 20 years in strategic planning, governance and organisational development within the Third and Public sectors. Joe is actively involved in the voluntary and community sector and is currently Secretary of the Golden Thread Gallery, Chair of VSB Foundation and a Trustee of the Linehall Library.  Joe has served as a commissioner with the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and as member of the Historic Monuments Council. In 2010 Joe was awarded an OBE for services to the voluntary sector. Joe is an Honours graduate from the Queen's University of Belfast and holds a Master’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Business Improvement.
6. David Small is a graduate of Ulster University and a career civil servant.  David retired from NICS in 2021 as a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). During his NICS career, David worked in the areas of housing, planning, agriculture and the environment. David also served as Private Secretary to two successive Whitehall Ministers during the 1990’s, Conservative Malcolm Moss MP and Labour’s Lord Dubs, and, more recently, worked closely with a number of Northern Ireland Assembly Ministers. Before retiring, David was Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and led the Environment Policy Group within DAERA. As Head of Group and a member of the DAERA Departmental Board, he was responsible for the full range of governance issues.  David is Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) for the Commissioner for Survivors of Institutional Childhood Abuse. David ended his previous Department of Health public appointment as the Non-Executive (Finance) Member of the NI Blood Transfusion Service to take up his Belfast Trust role.  David holds one other public appointment with the Department for Economy; from January 2022 he has been a member of the Northern Regional College Governing Body.  This appointment requires a time commitment of 15-20 days per annum, and remuneration is £250 for each meeting of the Governing Body and £150 for Committee meetings.
7. Norman McKinley MBE developed his professional career within the Red Cross and Red Crescent humanitarian movement and was Executive Director for UK Operations with the British Red Cross, before retiring at the end of 2021. Previously Norman held Non-Executive Director roles with the NIAS trust and with the NI Health and Social Care Board. Norman also served as a member of the Independent Monitoring Board at Hydebank Wood College and Women’s Prison. Norman is a former trustee with Family Fund and former chairman of the Association of Chief Officers of Voluntary Organisations in NI (now CO3). Norman currently serves as a member of the National Lottery Community Fund NI Committee and when time permits, he also enjoys volunteering with the South Belfast foodbank.
8. Carol Diffin has 39 years’ experience working in the statutory Health and Social Care sector. Carol qualified as a social worker in 1984 and has worked primarily in statutory Children’s Services across Belfast HSC Trust, Southern HSC Trust and in the Northen Ireland Guardian Ad Litem Agency. Throughout her career Carol has held several senior management positions, including Director of Children’s Community Services/Executive Director of Social Work in the Belfast HSC Trust from September 2018 until September 2022. Carol is currently an Associate Consultant with the HSC Leadership Centre and an Associate with Clinical Leaderships Solutions.
9. Professor Terri Scott has held senior leadership appointments at Ulster University, Northern Regional College, Institute of Technology, Sligo, Dublin City University and Invest Northern Ireland. Terri retired from Ulster University in 2022, where she led the portfolio for Academic Operations. Prior to this, Terri was CEO & Principal of Northern Regional College for seven years. Throughout Terri’s career she has led complex change and transformation programmes and also been a Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) overseeing major capital programmes.  Terri is an experienced Non-Executive-Director and has formerly held public appointments to the Boards of OF7QUAL (the UK qualifications regulator), Intertrade Ireland, Industrial Development Agency, and Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation. Terri has also served on the Board of Grangegorman Development Authority (Dublin) since 2018 and was reappointed in 2022.
10. Kathy Mackenzie worked in the education system for a number of years after receiving an MA from Dundee University.  Returning to university and obtaining a Post-Graduate Diploma in Accounting saw Kathy change direction and set up her own bookkeeping business working with small businesses in the Causeway area and specialising in Forensic accounting and Payroll services.  Until her recent retirement, Kathy worked for 29 years on the voluntary Board of Management of Triangle Housing Association which provides homes and care for people in need throughout Northern Ireland.  Whilst with Triangle Kathy chaired the Board on two occasions for a total of 5 years and at various times throughout her tenure was Chair of Finance, Housing and Development, Audit and Risk, and Remuneration Committees.
11. Elizabeth Ensor has extensive experience in Finance, Corporate Governance and Human Resources working at Board level as an Executive Director over the last 35 years in the Third and Private sectors and as a Non-Executive Director in the Public and Voluntary Sectors. Recently held appointments include Non-Executive Director on the board of the Department of Finance, serving on the Board’s Audit and Risk Committee, Chair of ESS Audit and Risk Committee and a member of Land Property Services and NISRA Audit and Risk Committees. Elizabeth was also chairperson of the NICS Non-Executive Directors Forum. In the independent sector Elizabeth was the Group Operations Director of the Domestic Care Group. In the third sector she was Director of Corporate Services with Age Concern Northern Ireland working across the UK and Non-Executive Director on the Board of Inspire Well Being and a member of the all-Ireland Finance Risk and Corporate Services Committee.
12. Rob Lynas Initially worked in the retail sector. He gained public sector experience working across NI Executive Departments, Local Councils, in GB, cross-border in Ireland and in the EU.  Professionally qualified in HR and a graduate of the Cross Border Studies and Belfast Healthy Cities Programmes, Rob has cross-sector stakeholder experience in EU funding and Sustainable Development - healthy communities is a theme.  He worked on the transfer of functions from Executive Departments to local Councils. Working in the Health Sector Rob provided independent input to Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency (NIMDTA) as a Lay Representative. NIMDTA is responsible for the training and development of doctors and dentists. He was a member of several GMC-led Visit Teams; these teams conduct regular reviews to test the quality of medical training Trust wide with patient safety being a key issue.  Rob is currently a director of several local charities, former President of a local sports club and previously Chair of a Choral society. 
13. Phelim Quinn has had a 42-year career in health and social care services in Northern Ireland and Ireland.  He is a qualified Mental Health and Adult General Nurse (UK).  Phelim is also a qualified Health Visitor and held several nursing and managerial positions across health and social care services in Northern Ireland.  Phelim was appointed as the Director of Regulation and Nursing at (RQIA) in 2005 where he oversaw the merger of pre-existing structures and establishment of new systems and structures. In 2012 Phelim was appointed as Director of Regulation and Chief Inspector of Social Services in the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) in Ireland.  In 2014 Phelim was appointed as HIQA’s CEO leading on the regulation of health social care services, statutory investigations, service and governance reviews, standard setting and the delivery of Health Technology Assessments for Ireland’s health and social care system.
14. Paul Corrigan graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 1986 when he joined Royal Mail and had a 28-year career finishing as the Logistics Director for NI.  He has been an Independent Arbitrator and Appeals Chair with the Labour Relations Agency since 2002.  Paul was a Non-Executive Director with the Northern Health & Social Care Trust for the past eight years where he was Chair of the Audit Committee.  Paul is a Lay Member of the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal and also sits as a Lay Member on one of the fitness to practice committees of the Pharmaceutical Society NI. In May 2022 Paul was appointed as a Non-Executive Board Member with the Department of Education NI and sits on their Audit and Risk Committee.  He also volunteers with the leading educational charity Young Enterprise NI. Paul holds one other Ministerial Public appointment with the Department for Communities; from 2014 he has been a Commission Member with the Local Government Staff Commission. This position requires a time commitment of 1-2 day per month with a £150 per day attendance allowance.
15. Dr Philip Graham holds degrees in Economics, Public Policy and Legal Issues from Queen’s University and Ulster University.  Philip began his career in the aerospace industry developing expertise in both procurement and contracts. Subsequently in Queen’s University he was responsible for Managing Intellectual Property, Research Contracts, and Consultancy. An expert in managing Knowledge Transfer (KT) and strategy between business and research organisations, as Executive Director of the Association of University Research and Industry Links he grew it into the largest association of its kind in Europe. As an early champion of the professionalism of KT he was the first Executive Director and Fellow of the Institute of Knowledge Transfer. Philip has sat on all government KT policy Committees stakeholder groups, research councils, and grant awarding bodies. He is a member of the Governing Body of the Northern Regional College, is Chair of its Education Committee and sits on its Audit and Risk Committee.
16. Appointments to the HSC Trusts are made by the Department of Health.
17. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees to be published. All the appointees have declared that they have not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.
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