Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Anita Thomas

Chief Operating Officer Appointed 4 October 2021

Anita joined DCHFT in 2000 as an Administration Manager. Since then she has worked in a variety of roles across the Trust, including Head of Health Records, Transport and Waste, Head of Access and Administration, Associate Director for Cancer and Access Services, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Head of Transformation and Performance Improvement and Divisional Manager for Urgent and Integrated Care. Anita has a degree in History (Warwick), Masters in Developing and Leading Services (School of Health and Social Care, Bournemouth University), completed the 2015 NHS Leadership Academy Nye Bevan Programme – NHS Leadership Academy Award in Executive Healthcare Leadership as well as Quality Improvement and Service Redesign (NHSI QSIR Programme) and has been a Teaching Faculty Member Associate since 2017. She has a passion for quality improvement led by staff and patient/carer co-design, use of data, user experience and intelligence to drive improvement and support teams to deliver high quality care for all.

Chris Hearn

Joint Chief Financial Officer Appointed 3 October 2023

Chris was appointed Joint Chief Financial Officer of Dorset County Hospital and Dorset HealthCare on 1 February 2024. Chris joined DCHFT in October 2022 from Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust, where he was Director of Operational Finance. During his time in the NHS, Chris has worked in a number of senior finance roles within acute, mental health and community Trusts, and prior to this has experience across a variety of technical and commercial finance roles within a large FMCG organisation. Chris is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), having qualified with PwC London where he was involved in the audit of a number of FTSE 100 companies.

Dawn Dawson

Joint Chief Nursing Officer Appointed 1 April 2024

Dawn is a nurse with an extensive clinical background having worked in acute, community and the mental health sector; most recently she has held a number of senior positions in an integrated mental health and community trust. Dawn has a broad academic background, which includes psychology, law, and post-compulsory education. Her focus on high quality patient care combined with workforce development led to Dawn working strategically across an STP footprint successfully heading up a national test site for the Nurse Associate Programme.

Jenny Horrabin

Joint Executive Director of Corporate Affairs Appointed 11 March 2024

Jenny was appointed Joint Executive Director of Corporate Affairs for Dorset HealthCare and Dorset County Hospital on 11 March 2024. She is a qualified accountant and chartered company secretary. She worked in audit and assurance for over 20 years in the public and private sector, before moving into a Company Secretary role in the NHS in 2012. She joined from Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust, having previously worked in senior governance and corporate affairs roles in two clinical commissioning groups. Jenny has a passion for continuous improvement and excellence in practice and is an active member of the NHS Company Secretaries Network and a member of the HFMA Audit and Governance Committee. She is also a trustee of a charity.

Nicola Plumb

Joint Chief People Officer Appointed 1 May 2023

Nicola was appointed Joint Chief People Officer of Dorset County Hospital and Dorset HealthCare on 1 February 2024. Nicola is passionate about the NHS and has spent her career in the public sector since graduating from Durham University with a Politics degree in 2000. Nicola has held a variety of communications and development roles in the NHS and Department of Health including working at NHS Bournemouth and Poole, Communications Advisor to the NHS Chief Executive and working as Head of Brand for NHS England.

Rachel Wharton

Chief Medical Officer Appointed 1 April 2025

Rachel has been working as an Emergency Medicine Consultant at DCH since 2009. As well as her Emergency Medicine training, Rachel also spent time in Australia doing paediatric and neonatal retrieval and worked in prehospital care with the London HEMS service. Since settling down with her family in Dorset, Rachel has enjoyed several leadership positions within the Trust – most notably as the first Lead for Locally Employed Doctors. Rachel has supplemented her leadership experience with academic studies at Masters Level. Rachel was appointed as the CMO in January 2025.

Claire Lehman

Non-executive Director Appointed 18 July 2023

Claire joined Dorset County Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Board in July 2023. As a GP and Public Health Consultant, Claire brings a holistic perspective in understanding needs of the changing demographic of our local communities. She is a keen advocate of empowering individuals to direct their own health trajectories. Her previous leadership experience includes roles as Health Protection lead consultant during the COVID-19 pandemic in local authority, as a GP partner, as GP clinical lead for Quality, and as an LMC Medical Director and 18 months as Medical Officer for the British Antarctic Survey. Claire is strongly motivated to positively influence the health and social care services of those served by the Trust.

Dave Underwood

Non-executive Director Appointed 28 February 2023

Dave is an experienced senior leader having worked first at the Civil Aviation Authority as an Air Traffic Control Scientist and Research Manager before joining the Met Office in 1998 to lead their Civil Aviation Business. Over his 20 years with the Met Office, Dave undertook a range of senior executive roles including Group Head of Public Sector Business, Deputy Director of Technology and Information Systems and latterly Deputy Director of High Performance Computing. In addition to his executive roles Dave has more than 10 years non-executive leadership experience gained in the fields of Environmental Business, Further Education (serving on the Board of Exeter College) and most recently as a Non-Executive Independent Advisor to the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust with regard to their MyCare Technology enabled Transformation Programme. Dave is passionate about delivering effective leadership of change and promoting the benefits of careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.

Eiri Jones

Non-executive Director Appointed 1 January 2022

Eiri Jones joined the Trust in January 2022. Eiri is a Registered Adult and Children’s Nurse; has an MA in Professional Development; and is a QI practitioner who has supported several organisations with improvement work. Eiri has clinical, managerial and executive leadership knowledge and skills gained during a career spanning nearly 50 years. Eiri has held senior and board positions in a range of trusts in England and Wales and has also held regional (Trust Development Authority), national (Welsh Government and State of Qatar) and regulatory (Nursing and Midwifery Council) appointments. Her most recent full-time role was as the Regional Director for Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) in the South West region. She was a Clinical Non-Executive Director in Salisbury Foundation Trust, where she also served as Interim Chair.

Jonathan McNuff

Non-executive Director

Jonty is an experienced senior finance leader, with 20 years of experience working within large complex commercial organisations. Most recently he was Head of Investor Relations and Strategy, and previously Director of Group Finance, at British Land plc, a FTSE-100 listed real estate investment trust managing over £15billion of commercial property. Across his time at British Land plc he oversaw strategy, capital allocation, transformation, financial reporting, financial operations, partnership and risk management activities. He trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant at KPMG London, focusing on the audit of large complex multi-national businesses. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry from Imperial College London. Jonty has relocated to the area with his family, having lived and worked previously in London, and enjoys spending free time out in the countryside running, walking and cycling.

Kay Taylor

Non-executive Director Appointed August 2026

Kay is an experienced senior leader in education and public service governance with significant experience across local education systems and the NHS. She currently serves as a Non-Executive Member. Kay was previously the Deputy Chair of Dorset Integrated Care Board, where she held responsibility for a number of board committees including the Primary Care Commissioning Committee, Strategic Outcomes Committee and Remuneration Committee. She has also served on the Finance and Planning, People and Culture, and Quality and Commissioning committees, providing oversight across a wide range of strategic and operational issues within the Dorset health system. Prior to this she served as a Lay Member of Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group, where she acted as Deputy Chair of the Governing Body and chaired the Remuneration Committee. Her responsibilities included leading work on patient and public engagement and contributing to oversight of health inequalities, safeguarding and equality initiatives across the system. Earlier in her career Kay held senior leadership roles within education, including Headteacher of The Sir John Colfox Academy and later Executive Principal of the Minerva Learning Trust, a multi-academy trust comprising primary and secondary schools in Dorset. She also worked as an Ofsted inspector and supported school improvement programmes across the county. Alongside these roles she serves as a Governor at Coastland College, where she chairs the Quality and Students Committee and contributes to governance and strategic oversight within further education.

Louise Dickinson

Associate Non-executive Director Appointed July 2026

Louise is a registered nurse with a master’s in advanced clinical practice. Her career spans over 40 years with clinical nursing experience in cardiology, emergency medicine and infection prevention and control which provided her with the opportunity to become one of the first consultant nurses in this field. She has extensive experience as a senior nursing leader across acute, community mental health and learning disability services. She is currently interim Chief Nursing Officer at Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and is a Trustee of Camphill Devon a charity supporting people with learning disabilities.

Margaret Blankson

Non-executive Director Appointed 1 January 2021

Promoting issues of diversity and inclusion have been core tenets throughout Margaret’s personal life and professional career. Following a career in local government, Margaret established her own consultancy providing strategic advice on transformation, regeneration and CSR programmes, with a focus on the embedding issues of diversity inclusion into mainstream delivery. Margaret’s clients extend across all three sectors and have included Nike UK, Unilever, Lloyds Banking and the FA. Margaret spent several years involved in training Metropolitan Police Service officers in diversity and inclusion. She has held a number of advisory roles, including Chair for the charity IMPACT, and advisory Board member for Choice FM Radio. Margaret is currently a Trustee of Over the Wall, a charity providing breaks for children facing serious health challenges, and is the founder of the Foodbank DoorSteppers, an organisation she established in response to COVID-19. Margaret is currently undertaking an MA in Consulting and Leadership in Psychodynamic and Systemic Approaches at the Tavistock Institute, London.

Professor Nick Braisby

Joint Non-executive Director Appointed August 2026

Most recently he served as Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Buckinghamshire New University, where he led a significant programme of institutional transformation. During his tenure the university moved from a period of financial deficit to sustained surpluses, improved its position in national league tables, expanded student numbers and achieved strong results in student satisfaction surveys. His leadership also included overseeing major estates developments and strengthening the university’s external partnerships and civic engagement activities. Following his departure from Buckinghamshire New University he has begun developing a portfolio career, including consultancy work and non-executive roles within the higher education and public sectors. He recently served as Interim Vice-Chancellor at the University of Bradford and is currently serving as Interim Vice-Chancellor at Edge Hill University. Alongside his executive leadership roles Nick has held a number of governance positions across the higher education and public sectors. These have included trustee and board roles within educational charities and sector organisations, membership of Universities UK committees focused on audit, risk and resources, and leadership of collaborative initiatives such as the Buckinghamshire Health and Social Care Academy, which was established to strengthen workforce development partnerships between universities and NHS organisations.

Stuart Parsons

Non-executive Director Appointed 1 December 2021

Stuart is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, having qualified whilst working at Eldridge, Pope Brewery in the centre of Dorchester. He has more than 30 years of experience in commercial finance and has held senior positions in a number of sectors including telecoms, logistics, equipment rental, asset management and engineering services. Before retirement he held the position of Group Commercial and Finance Director for Briggs Equipment UK Limited based in Staffordshire. His roles have included international businesses across Northern Europe and Russia. His experience demonstrates a strong collaborative approach, whilst improving governance and control, along with the critical challenge to improve performance and efficiency. He has a keen love of sport and music and is returning to Dorset after moving to the Midlands more than 23 years ago.