County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Eliot Sykes

Chief Medical Officer

Eliot joined County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust as Chief Medical Officer in August 2026. Eliot has worked at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for 18 years as a Consultant in Intensive Care and Anaesthetics and, prior to joining CDDFT, was Associate Medical Director and Business Unit Director for Surgery. He has extensive experience in clinical leadership, patient safety and quality improvement, with responsibility for mortality, clinical governance, serious incident management, appraisal and revalidation, job planning and the implementation of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF). Eliot has also led a range of transformation programmes to improve elective recovery, productivity, theatre utilisation and length of stay, while maintaining a strong focus on delivering safe, high-quality care

Gill Hunt

Chief Nurse

With more than 35 years' NHS experience, Gill has held a range of senior nursing and executive leadership roles across the North East, including Director of Nursing and Quality at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Director of Nursing for NHS England in the North East and Yorkshire region. She leads nursing, quality, patient safety and safeguarding across the Trust.

Hayley Wardle

Chief Finance Officer

Hayley joined County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT) as Chief Finance Officer in May 2026, working jointly across CDDFT and South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust. Hayley brings extensive senior leadership experience across both the public and private sectors, with a strong track record in strategic financial leadership, organisational recovery and sustainable service transformation. Her role is focused on strengthening financial leadership, supporting recovery and long-term sustainability, and enabling collaborative approaches that maximise the effective use of NHS resources across both organisations.

Kelly Angus

Deputy Chief Executive

Kelly joined CDDFT in April 2026, from North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, where she supported the Trust as Interim Chief People Officer. Until October 2025, she was also part of NHS England’s North East and Yorkshire regional team, serving as Director of Workforce, Training and Education. Kelly brings significant senior leadership experience across health and local government. Her previous roles include Deputy Chief Executive and Acting Chief Executive at Northumberland County Council, Deputy Director of HR at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and regional and national roles within NHS England.

Matt Graham

Acting Chief Operating Officer

Matt joined County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust as Acting Chief Operating Officer in May 2026. He is also the Accountable Emergency Officer (AEO) for the organisation. Before joining the Trust, Matt was Director of Strategy at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, where he led the organisation's approach to continuous improvement. Prior to this, he spent four years as Director of the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT), one of the country's leading provider collaboratives. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Matt combined his WYAAT role with serving as Chief of Staff for the Yorkshire and Humber Nightingale Hospital in Harrogate and led the West Yorkshire vaccination programme. Before joining the NHS in 2010, he served as an officer in the Royal Signals for 17 years, including operational deployments in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Afghanistan.

Michelle Evans

Interim Chief People Officer

Michelle joined CDDFT Michelle in July 2026. She has more than 20 years' experience in people and organisational development across local government and the NHS. During her NHS career she has worked across mental health, acute, ambulance and integrated care board organisations, leading workforce transformation and working collaboratively across complex health systems.

Adam Crampsie

Non-Executive Director

Adam is a mental health clinician with around 20 years’ experience spanning the NHS, private sector, and charitable organisations. He is Chief Executive of a national mental health charity and NHS provider based in the North East, leading services locally and nationally through a range of NHS partnerships. Adam also serves as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of Quality and Governance at Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, and holds several national leadership roles, including member of the NHS Confederation Mental Health Board and board member of the Association of Mental Health Providers. Adam is passionate about improving quality and governance, supporting staff to deliver great care, and strengthening partnerships that help make a real difference for patients and communities.

David Jackson

Non-Executive Director

David has a background working in the Welfare to Work sector, holding several senior board roles, in multimillion pound organisations delivering services on behalf of the UK Government, and for Governments across Europe and South Africa. His experience also includes prison education, business support and enterprise, and independent living programmes. David ran his own business consultancy providing business support, growth strategies, and governance, primarily for the third sector, helping to improve the business skills and helping to make organisations more sustainable and effective in the way the worked and the services they delivered. David is currently a Trustee of Haswell and District Mencap, and Durham Union Society (DUS) and is an active member of the Rotary Club of Durham.

Lisa Quinn

Non-Executive Director

Lisa has worked in the NHS her full career - all in the North East. For 14 years Lisa held an Executive Director post at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Foundation Trust (CNTWFT) with a wide portfolio that included commissioning, quality assurance, performance, governance, risk and digital. Her portfolio was extended to cover Finance in her final year as an Executive Director. Lisa also spent a number of years as an Executive Reviewer for the Care Quality Commission. More recently Lisa has worked nationally with the NHSE within the Mental Health Quality Transformation Team.

Liz Bromley

Non-Executive Director

Liz is a Non-Executive Director at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust and Chief Executive Officer of NCG, one of the UK's largest further education college groups. She has extensive experience in leadership, organisational transformation, governance and workforce development, and brings significant expertise in culture, education, partnership working and social mobility to her role on the Trust Board.

Maggie Pavlou

Non-Executive Director

Maggie joined CDDFT in March 2026. She is Chair of our People and Culture Committee and sits on our Audit Committee. She is a qualified HR professional with extensive commercial experience operating at Board level. Her executive career has been predominately within the private sector. She was HR Director with Parkdean Resorts, the largest UK holiday park operator, employing over 7,000 people across its 66 sites, with an EBITDA of £72m. A passionate advocate for employee engagement, Maggie runs her own technology business which focuses on this area. Over the last 30 years Maggie has sat on a number of regional boards, she was the first ever female President and Chair of the North East Chamber of Commerce. In addition to her role with us, she is a Trustee and Volunteer at The People’s Kitchen, and a Board member of both The Chronicle Sunshine Fund and the Theatre Royal, York. Alongside her role with us, Maggie is also a Non-Executive Director at Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, where she also chairs their People and Organisational Development Committee. She is also Chair of QE Facilities, their wholly owned subsidiary company.

Martin Knowles

Non-Executive Director

Martin brings a wealth of experience to his role as Interim Non-Executive Director, having previously served as Chief Executive of South Tyneside Homes and Four Housing Group, and as Finance Director at both North Tyneside and North Tees General Hospitals. He is currently a Non-Executive Director at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, and in recent years roles also include being a Board Member at Advance Northumberland, Vice-Chair of Audit at Sunderland City Council, and with the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service. Martins focus is on strengthening governance, supporting improvement and helping ensure the Trust is well placed to deliver safe, high-quality services for patients and communities.

Phil Kane

Non-Executive Director

Phil has over 40 years of NHS experience. Following graduation from Newcastle medical school in 1983 he undertook his higher surgical training in hospitals across the North East and London before taking up post as a consultant neurosurgeon at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 1996. During his career, Phil enjoyed a variety of clinical leadership, academic and educational roles. He has a proven track record of improving the quality of clinical services with multiple presentations at national and international meetings. Following retirement from clinical practice in December 2020, Phil has undertaken Non-Executive Director posts at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (2021-2024) and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (2024-2026) giving rise to a broad experience of board governance across all domains.