Appointment of Non-Executive Directors to the Western Health and Social Care Trust

The Department of Health has announced the appointment of two Non-Executive Directors to the Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT).

Dr Aideen McGinley has been appointed as a Non-Executive (Lay) Director along with Mr Brian Telford who has been appointed as a Non-Executive (Finance) Director.  Both appointments commenced on 1 January 2024 and will end on a date not later than 31 December 2027.

Both positions require a time commitment of one day per week and attract a remuneration of £8,883 per annum.

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 WHSCT comprises a Non-Executive Chair and seven Non-Executive Directors along with five Executive Directors including the Chief Executive.

Notes to editors: 

1. Dr Aideen McGinley has over 35 years local and central government experience as a former CEO of Fermanagh District council, Permanent Secretary, Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and subsequently Department of Employment and Learning, Seconded as CEO to ILEX, urban regeneration company for Derry-Londonderry. Dr McGinley was instrumental in building the Peace Bridge and securing the UK City of Culture 2013 title for the city. She is a Trustee of the National Trust, Deputy Chair of Carnegie UK Trust, on the DCMS expert Panel for U.K. City of Culture and was a Northern Ireland Trustee on the BBC Trust. Dr McGinley holds a number of voluntary positions including Trustee and former Chair of Fermanagh Trust and a Director of Mental Health charity the Aisling Centre. She was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Millennium honours, honorary doctorate University of Ulster, honorary membership the Royal Society of Ulster Architects and Heart for Habitat for Humanity Award (2018). Dr McGinley is particularly interested in Collective Wellbeing and Inclusion and has expertise internationally in Whole Systems Thinking, Community Planning, Coproduction and Stakeholder Engagement.
2. Mr Brian Telford has spent almost 40 years working in the Financial Services sector. Mr Telford was formerly Head of Treasury Markets at Danske Bank until his retirement in 2019. His responsibilities included managing the Bank’s Money Market Funding, Liquidity, and Interest Rate Risk activities on the financial markets. Additionally, He was responsible for Business Markets, Institutional & Corporate Sales, providing, Foreign Exchange, regulated Interest Rate and Commodity risk management solution for clients. As a member of the Bank’s Executive Management Team, Mr Telford sat on the Bank’s Asset and Liability Committee and had responsible for risk oversight. From 2013 -2022, he was a Trustee Director of the Northern Bank Pension Trust, Chairing the Investment Committee, as well as being a member of the Governance Committee. Mr Telford has extensive public speaking and media experience, conducting economic seminars in a range of business areas including Brexit, financial crisis and the introduction of the euro. 
3. Appointments to the HSC Trusts are made by the Department of Health. 
4. 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. Both appointees have declared that they have not engaged in any political activity in the last five years5.
5. For media enquiries please contact DoH Press Office by e-mail pressoffice@health-ni.gov.uk   
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7. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for Media Enquiries Only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The Duty Press Officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

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