Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Andy Styring

Director of Strategy and Partnerships

Raised in Lancashire, Andy went to St Joseph's College Blackpool before attending Sefton school of Health Studies/Lancaster University in 1974. He has held a number of Senior Nursing, Clinical and Management posts in a career spanning 47 years. Andy is a former member of both Cheshire and Wirral Safeguarding Board and Learning Disability Partnership Board. He was a founder Executive member of Central Cheshire Integrated Care Partnership. He is currently a member of Prospect Partnership Board, a Governor of Ancora School and a member of Cheshire and Mersey Transforming Care Partnership Board for people with Learning Disabilities and Autism.

Dr Faouzi Alam

Medical Director

Born in Lebanon, Faouzi moved to Latvia and graduated as a medical doctor in 1996. He moved to Russia and lived there for five years to complete his post-graduate course in renal medicine. He moved to the UK in 2001. Faouzi was inspired by his research into psychosis in patients receiving haemodialysis and decided to change direction. He trained to become a psychiatrist, before taking a job within CWP. He is now the consultant in the early intervention team in psychosis. With over 20 years' experience as a doctor, Faouzi was appointed as joint medical director in October 2013. He is the Responsible Officer and the Trust's Caldicott Guardian.

Gary Flockhart

Director of Nursing, Therapies and Patient Partnership

Born in Glasgow, Gary attended university in Edinburgh and nursing college in the Scottish Borders before starting his career as a staff nurse at the national psychosis unit at the Bethlem Royal in South London. Following a long and varied career working in community and mental health services, across London and Greater Manchester, Gary joined CWP in November 2015 as Associate Director of Nursing and Therapies (Mental Health and Learning Disability). In his role as Director Gary is working to create opportunities for nursing and therapies to support the ambitions set out in the NHS Long Term Plan. Supporting people to be cared for at home but also making sure that, when needed, an in-patient stay can offer the best care in a positive environment delivered by dedicated and compassionate staff.

Jennie Birch

Director of Business and Value

jennie.birch1@nhs.net Originally from Crosby, Jennie attended the University of Leeds to study mathematics, graduating in 2000. Following a gap year travelling which turned into two, Jennie secured a place as a Graduate Trainee starting her NHS Finance career in North West Wales NHS Trust in September 2002. She moved back over the border and took her first qualified post at the Countess of Chester NHS Hospital Foundation Trust in 2005. Since then Jennie has had a number of positions throughout Cheshire and Mersey in both Provider and Commissioning organisations including Acute and Community Services. Most latterly Jennie Completed a secondment to Wirral Community Trust as Director of Finance and an Operational Divisional Director role at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Jennie has worked within the NHS for over 20 years with twelve years’ experience operating at Deputy Director level and joined Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in March 2023 as the Executive Director of Business and Value. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

Suzanne Edwards

Deputy CEO and Director of Operations

Suzanne lives in North Wales and joined CWP in 2007 as a general manager. Suzanne grew up in Bradford, West Yorkshire and moved to Manchester to study Nursing at the University of Manchester where she qualified as a mental health nurse in 1995 and completed her fourth year gaining her community mental health specialist practitioner award. Suzanne started her career in Manchester working as a staff nurse on an acute mental health ward, and has worked in a variety of settings including community, A&E and primary care, with a strong focus on service development and transformation. In 2019 Suzanne successfully completed the NHS leadership Academy Award in Executive Healthcare Leadership and was appointed as Director of Operations in 2020.

Tracy Narot

Director of People and Organisational Development

Chris Lynch

Non-Executive Director

After graduating with a business degree and with ten years' experience in the hospitality sector, Chris returned to university to study psychology at the University of Chester, graduating in 2012. Chris is passionate about peer support and helped run a small user-led mental health charity in Chester for over a decade. Chris has worked part time as a support worker in local step-down supported housing during the last couple of years. Chris has also helped set up several peer support groups across Cheshire and has been involved with the running of both West Cheshire Mental Health Forum and West Cheshire Mental Health Partnership Board. Chris was instrumental in the original funding bid that led to the opening of the Crisis Café in Chester. Chris has previously been a service user, volunteer, involvement representative and service user/carer governor of CWP. He has served as a Trustee of Rethink Mental Illness and the British Psychological Society, as well as being a member of Time to Change's Senior Management Group and a Governing Body Lay Member at NHS Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group. Chris is currently a member of the National Institute for Health Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit's lived experience working group and sits on University College London's Institute of Mental Health's Advisory Board. He has worked for organisations such as Mind, Rethink Mental Illness, the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health and the Samaritans and is currently a lived experience Advisor for Equally Well UK, Health Education England, the National Suicide Prevention Alliance, The Wellcome Trust and NHS England. Chris is passionate about reducing inequalities, co-production, patient leadership, and asset-based community development.

David Fearnley

Non-Executive Director

David was named as the Royal College of Psychiatrists Inaugural ‘Psychiatrist of the Year' (2009), received the Healthcare Financial Management Association / Academy of Medical Royal Colleges ‘Working with Finance - Clinician of the Year Award' in 2013, and was named in the Health Service Journal's 100 Clinical Leaders List in 2015. Between 2016-19 he was also seconded to several national roles at NHS England including Associate National Clinical Director for Secure Mental Health, Chair of the Secure Clinical Reference Group, and Deputy National Clinical Director for Mental Health at NHS Improvement. David is also a Second Opinion Appointed Doctor (SOAD) with the CQC and continues to work as a part-time consultant psychiatrist in Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS FT.

Elizabeth Harrison

Non-Executive Director

Liz lives in South Cheshire with her husband and young family. She studied at the University of London completing both a degree and a PhD before embarking on a career in customer insight and strategy working for both a global market research agency and retailers. She directed the insight and strategy for both The Co-operative Group and Aldi, developing their brands and influencing and leading business change. Subsequently, she started a portfolio career at non-executive director level. Liz is currently a governor and vice-chair at Reaseheath College - a further and higher education land-based college. She is also a non-executive director serving on the Homes Board of Housing Plus Group which manages 18,000 homes and employs more than 800 people across Shropshire and Staffordshire. The Group and its member companies work closely with its customers, partners and wider-community to support thriving neighbourhoods and independent retirement living. Liz is a strategic thinker, who is financially adept and has rigorous analytical skills. She now runs her own specialist consultancy which helps businesses to grow via strategic business planning and customer insight. She is passionate about providing excellent service to end-users that meets identified needs and looks forward to ensuring that service users remain central to decision making. Liz is passionate about understanding the whole person and believes that health, housing and education are all vital ingredients to wellbeing.

Eric Solomons

Non-Executive Director

Eric has held previous posts as a Non-Executive D irector, Board A dviser and Trustee to several businesses and a charity.

Farhad Ahmed

Non-Executive Director

Farhad was born and educated in Crosby. After completing a Masters in English from University of Liverpool, he lectured in Further Education before managing Widening Participation projects at Edge Hill University for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. He transitioned to the voluntary sector managing community based economic development programmes within a deprived inner city area, playing a leading role in forming public/private sector partnerships resulting in significant social and economic regeneration. Following this, he joined the UK's leading University business incubator at University of Central Lancashire where he spearheaded several ground-breaking initiatives which contributed both to embedding an enterprising culture across the University and advancing the University's ambition to be an 'anchor institution'. This included collaborations with charities, multi Academy Trusts and a University-Small Medium Enterprise (SME) joint venture. Married with two children, Farhad is currently a Civil Servant managing strategic stakeholder relations at a regulatory body. He has acted as a Diversity and Inclusion representative at board level as part of the Government Communications Service profession. In his spare time, Farhad keenly participates in intercultural and interfaith initiatives which enhance community cohesion across the North West, particularly relating to the heritage of diverse communities in Britain. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.

Julie Higgins

Non-Executive Director

"I wanted to work with CWP as I have been so impressed with the staff who have looked after my Dad, they displayed the NHS values and commitment to quality that I am connected to and I hope I can make a difference in this fantastic organisation". Julie has been a senior executive leader in the NHS with 17 years' experience as chief executive, deputy chief executive, director of public health, along with regional and national strategy and assurance roles. She has a strong strategic, analytical approach with a proven track record in effective change management and service transformation. Her leadership skills are driven by a passion to reduce inequalities. Julie lives in Chester, starting a career in immunology after gaining her PhD from London University. An interest in inequalities led Julie to completing a Master's in Public Health and becoming the first non-medical director of public health for Salford. Julie has been a chief executive of commissioning organisations, in Heywood, Middleton, and Rochdale Primary Care Trust, in Greater Manchester where she chaired two hospital reconfigurations, and most recently at Blackburn and Darwen and East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Groups. In the latter, she merged the management team and chaired the Place-based Integrated Community Care Board, subsequently leading the community response for COVID19. Julie was also deputy chief executive of Greater Manchester PCT leading to the development of the 12 Clinical Commissioning Groups. Julie has chaired the Lancashire Special Educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Partnership Board and with the director of children's services, the leadership was specifically commended by Ofsted/CQC. She also chaired Lancashire and South Cumbria Population Health Board being a catalyst for independent review of on inequalities by global expert, Professor Michael Marmot. Her passion for reducing inequalities led her to the national lead for the development of the Learning Disability policy - Building the Right Support, doubling the reduction inpatients, progress confirmed by National Audit Office (NOA). Julie has 10 years' experience of executive coaching (ILM level 7) in the NHS and has worked with local, regional, and national executives and senior managers on authentic and inclusive leadership. Julie spends her spare time in her campervan with Archie the Cairn Terrier and enjoys spending time in France, owning a cottage in the Dordogne.

Rabiya Jiva

Non-Executive Director