Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Claire Wilson

Chief Finance Officer

Claire Wilson took up the post of Chief Finance Officer (CFO) at the Trust in December 2024, having previously been CFO and Deputy Chief Executive of Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board. Prior to this, Claire has held a number of CFO positions in NHS organisations across the North West and has worked at a senior level both regionally and nationally. In 2024, Claire was elected as the President of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, the professional body for finance staff working in healthcare, and continues to be a trustee on their Board. She lives in Manchester with her husband and much loved dog and has two grown up two up children at university.

Darren Banks

Interim Deputy Trust Chief Executive

Darren Banks is Deputy Trust Chief Executive at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. Formerly the Chief Strategy Officer, he has held senior leadership responsibilities at MFT and its predecessor organisations since joining in 2006, leading and supporting a range of major organisational and system developments, including MFT’s Foundation Trust application, the acquisition of Trafford Healthcare Trust, the creation of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, and a prominent role in the Greater Manchester health and care devolution reform. As Chief Strategy Officer, he played a leading role in establishing MFT’s five-year Trust Strategy, Where Excellence Meets Compassion, providing a single organisational framework for improving the health and quality of life of the diverse communities served by the Trust. His leadership has supported the alignment of strategic priorities, governance and delivery across MFT’s broad portfolio of hospital, community, specialist, research and education services.As Deputy Chief Executive, he led the development and implementation of the One MFT operating model, strengthening how the Trust works as a single organisation through clearer accountability, consistent governance and clinically-led leadership arrangements. His portfolio includes estates and facilities, corporate governance and the Trust Value for Patients programme. Darren is also the Executive Lead for Freedom to Speak Up. Darren is a qualified accountant and has previously held senior finance and operational management roles in the NHS. His experience combines strategy, governance, financial management, programme delivery and partnership working across large and complex NHS organisations.

David Walliker

Chief Digital & Information Officer

David joined the NHS in 2004 and has worked in m ental h ealth, a mbulance and a cute t rusts. Before joining MFT, he was the Chief Digital and Partnership Officer at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust where he was accountable for strategy, partnerships, performance, digital, data and digital innovation, and he was the senior responsible officer for the Thames Valley and Surrey Secure Data Environment . He has previously been Chief Information Officer at Liverpool Women’s Hospital and the Royal Liverpool Hospital, where he also led the Life Science Accelerator. David has significant experience in d igital t ransformation , and is passionate about its potential, along with the use of data, to provide the best possible care to our patients, improve the health of our communities and tackle inequalities. David holds a MSc in Health Informatics, is a Fellow at the British Computer Society and, he is an Honorary Chair in Informatics, Imaging and Data Sciences at the University of Manchester.

Dr Sohail Munshi

Joint Chief Medical Officer

Dr Sohail Munshi is Joint Chief Medical Officer at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Sohail Munshi is Joint Chief Medical Officer at MFT. Dr Munshi was a GP partner in Manchester for more than 25 years, and became the Chief Medical Officer of Manchester Local Care Organisation in 2018, with the leadership team then taking on the locality of Trafford in 2019. He is senior clinical advisor to the NHS England national Director for health inequalities Improvement and received a British Empire Medal for his services to the community and primary care in 2017.

Kimberley Salmon-Jamieson

Deputy Trust Chief Executive & Chief Nursing Officer

Kimberley is a very experienced nursing and midwifery leader, having worked in the NHS for 30 years. Kimberley joined MFT from Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where she was Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive. In addition to her role at the Trust, Kimberley is a Visiting Professor at Manchester Metropolitan University. Qualifying as an adult nurse in 1994, Kimberley worked in Women and Children’s services in Salford and then practised as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner after gaining her MSc. at Liverpool University. She moved into general management in 2005 and has held senior leadership with roles as Deputy Chief Nurse at the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust and then the Pennine Acute Hospital NHS Trust. Kimberley’s focus has always been to drive improvements in quality, safety and experience for patients and their families. She has a particular interest in safeguarding, clinical governance, quality improvement and system safety. Kimberley is passionate about professional development and developing clinical leaders. She developed the Your Future, Your Way leadership programme which won several national awards and the 2023 Northwest RCN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

Meera Nair

Trust Chief People Officer

Meera Nair has recently joined us as MFT Chief People Officer. Meera came to us from Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust where she was Chief People Officer. She was also Chief People Officer for South East London ICS. Before this, she held senior roles at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust, University College London NHS Foundation Trust and Basildon and Thurrock NHS Foundation Trust. Meera has over 20 years’ NHS experience, and previously worked in the private sector as Head of Human Resources for various organisations in India and the US.

Professor Matt Makin

Interim Joint Chief Medical Officer

Professor Matt Makin is Interim Joint Chief Medical Officer at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. Born and brought up in Manchester, he has a clinical and research background in palliative care medicine and has held senior medical leadership roles across the NHS in England and Wales. His interests include health inequalities, clinical ethics, and strengthening medical engagement to support compassionate, high-quality care for local communities.

Tom Rafferty

Acting Chief Strategy Officer

Tom began his career on the NHS Graduate Management Training scheme in 2006, following which he worked in operational roles at acute providers in Bristol and London. He has held a series of national policy and strategy roles, including a secondment at the Department of Health as Head of Provider Strategy. Tom moved back into the provider sector as Head of Strategy at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust before moving to Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust in 2018. He has held his current substantive role of Director of Strategy for the past 6 years, working across a range of our Clinical Groups. In 2023/24, Tom led the work to develop our current MFT strategy Where Excellence Meets Compassion .

Vanessa Gardener

Chief Delivery Officer

Vanessa has considerable strategic and operational knowledge having been in the NHS in a wide variety of senior positions including the role of Chief Operating Officer for University Hospital of North Staffordshire and Chief Transformation Officer for MFT. Vanessa is passionate and experienced in the benefits of collaborative working to transform services to deliver the best possible care, through small and large scale change. Vanessa has significant experience in building organisational capabilities, through compassionate leadership and the development of clinical and operational leaders. In her previous role as Chief Executive for Manchester Royal Infirmary, Vanessa led major cultural change ensuring that everyone had the right support and resources to carry out their role to fulfil their potential; creating the right environment to continually improve services for our patients and their families. Vanessa is an advocate for shared learning and for translational research and innovation keeping MFT at the forefront of the NHS.

Angela Adimora

Trust Non-Executive Director

Angela is an accomplished HR and organisational transformation leader with over two decades of experience across FTSE 250, Fortune 500, and highly regulated sectors. Her career spans the NHS, Education, Logistics, Engineering, Real Estate Investment and Care Homes, complemented by Non Executive experience advising on the People Strategy for the UK Data Regulator (ICO). She is widely recognised for her expertise in complex change leadership, including M&A integration, organisational redesign, operational integrity, and large scale cultural transformation. Angela brings a people centred, modernising approach to governance, ensuring organisations balance strategic ambition with operational resilience and regulatory confidence. A trusted advisor to Boards, she is known for building strong, constructive relationships with unions, regulators, and executive teams. Angela’s non executive contribution is grounded in sound judgement, independence of thought, and a commitment to high quality oversight, ethical leadership, and long term value creation.

Chris McLoughlin, OBE

Trust Senior Independent Director/Non-Executive Director

Chris was born in Saint Mary’s Hospital and grew up very nearby in central Manchester. She initially trained and worked as a Staff Nurse at Manchester Royal Infirmary in the 1980s and subsequently became a qualified social worker, based in a Community Team in Moss Side, central Manchester. Chris held a number of key senior positions in Manchester City Council’s Children, Family and Community Services for over 25 years. She was also an adviser to the Department for Education Chris joined the Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council in 2009 as Director of Social Care and Health. She currently holds the position of Executive Director People and Integration : Director of Children’s Services. Chris chairs the Greater Manchester School Readiness Board and the Greater Manchester Children’s Health and Wellbeing Executive. She also represents Greater Manchester’s Directors of Children’s Services on the GM Integrated Care Partnership. Chris is the Senior Independent Director for MFT. She was awarded an OBE in 2021 for her outstanding services to children and families.

Jackie Hanson, MBE

Trust Non-Executive Director

Jackie is a highly experienced senior healthcare leader who has a distinguished career spanning over two decades with her recent role being the Joint Northwest Regional Chief Nurse for NHS England. She has held senior leadership roles across Acute, Community, and Commissioning services since 2004, and has operated at Board level for more than 12 years, including the last three years as Regional Chief Nursing Officer. Jackie trained in Manchester as a Nurse and Health Visitor and has dedicated much of her career to serving communities across Lancashire and South Cumbria. She has held responsibility for quality governance in provider and commissioning organisations and has overseen quality assurance and performance across Trusts and Integrated Care Boards in her region. Jackie is also well-versed in engaging with a broad range of stakeholders, including local politicians, councillors, regulators, patient groups, and the public. Her regional and national profile is supported by strong connections with senior leaders across the country. Jackie is deeply committed to values of equity, fairness, and respect. She has led impactful initiatives to support underrepresented communities, including the development and coproduction of a population health plan working in close collaboration with Community leaders as well as delivering on the outcomes of a citizen’s jury. Her leadership of the NHS Northwest Anti-Racism programme resulted in organisations across the region supporting the programme, highlighting her to drive and commitment to cultural change. Jackie is motivated by the opportunity to contribute to MFT’s strategic ambitions, particularly in research, innovation, and local service development. The opportunity to make a real difference to patients and the Trust’s serving communities and neighbourhoods will be a key driving force in her NED role.

Matthew Bonam

Trust Non-Executive Director

Matt has worked at AstraZeneca for over 20 years, starting as a laboratory analyst to now lead on digital health research and development which includes helping to design clinical trials for new medicines. Much of his recent career has been operating at a senior, strategic level with Matt being a co-founder of Evinova, a health technology company within the AstraZeneca group where he designed products to improve clinical trial programmes. An experienced leader within the life-science sector, Matt has worked across healthcare systems and with governments around the world. He has a proven track record in pharmaceutical research and development, transformation and innovative healthcare strategy development and implementation, delivering improved outcomes for patients and for the organisations serving those patients. Robust governance alongside adhering to a strict code of conduct and work ethics, when professionally engaging with stakeholders, are key practices adopted by Matt during his day-to-day business. The ability to effectively and directly work with service users to deliver excellent care is also an important factor. Matt has strong experience of leading change programmes and transformation with key areas of focus being people, process and culture which have resulted in significant organisational efficiencies and cost savings. As a driver of change, he has established ‘change champion networks’, and ‘change leads’ to regularly focus on ‘what’s working’ and ‘what can be done better’. Evidence-based decision making and triangulating data are key attributes for Matt, whose career has been dedicated to healthcare and life sciences. The opportunity to make a real difference to patients and the Trust’s serving communities is a key driving force for Matt in his Group NED role.

Mr Mark Gifford, OBE

Trust Non-Executive Director

Mark has considerable strategic leadership experience in both the commercial and public sectors. He has held senior roles in large, successful and national organisations. As a strong, transformational, and commercial leader at Waitrose and Partners, Mark led the pulling together of different convenience operations into one division to create unity, drive down costs and improve customer experience. Now the Chief Executive Officer of First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) since December 2024 following a successful fours year leading the National Citizen Service (NCS) as CEO. Mark has pledged to make the housing association an anchor organisation in Oldham in partnership with stakeholders as it develops plans to help with the borough’s housing crisis and promote stronger communities. During his time at NCS, Mark used his skills and experience to reduce costs whilst also improving the quality and relevance of the services provided. Mark was instrumental in strengthening the organisation’s governance arrangements by establishing robust risk management processes. He also championed the move into the digital world to improve capacity and capabilities, alongside improving customer experience while making NCS a year-round offer to young people. Serving the community has been a key motivating driver for Mark throughout his career. His service as a school governor and now as an academy director has further enabled him to deploy his leadership skills to help the community. Mark was born and bred in Manchester. He studied here and he lives here with his family who have been service users of the Trust. He also has family members who are healthcare professionals. Mark feels passionately the NHS is part of our nation’s social fabric. As a Group Non-Executive Director, he wishes to offer his skills and experience in service to others and the Trust to improve the health and quality of life of our Manchester communities.

Nic Gower

Trust Non-Executive Director

Nic has been a Non-Executive Director of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust since it was created in October 2017. He is currently Chair of the Audit Committee. After graduating from Manchester University, Nic trained as a Chartered Accountant. He spent the majority of his professional career with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and its predecessor firms, including more than 20 years as a partner specialising in audit and assurance and risk management. More recently, Nic has served as a Non-Executive Director in both the commercial and not-for-profit sectors.

Professor Ashley Blom

Trust Non-Executive Director

Ashley joined the University of Manchester in March 2025 as the new Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology from the University of Sheffield where he was the Vice-President and Head of the Faculty of Health. Ashley is an Orthopaedic surgeon whose research covers a broad range of basic science and applied methodologies primarily focusing on arthroplasty. He is part of the team that holds the contract to analyse the National Joint Registry, the largest arthroplasty database in the world. Ashley is an NIHR Senior Investigator, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and past President of the European Orthopaedic Research Society.

Samantha Liscio

Trust Non-Executive Director

Samantha has over 15 years’ experience at a Chief Information Officer (CIO) level within both public and private sectors and was Canada’s Public Sector CIO of the Year. Her experience includes direct responsibility for the delivery of digital platforms in the international (Canadian) healthcare sector, specifically clinician portal access to electronic patient records (15million people) and the ‘Be Part of Research’ and ‘Join Dementia Research’ volunteer registration websites here in the UK. As Chief Information & Technology Officer for the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network, Samantha contributed to strategic planning in health research and was an active member of the Health Data Research UK Alliance Board. As the prior Corporate Chief Strategist, she was also accountable for the delivery of technology strategy for the Government of Ontario. Samantha has operated at Board level over a number of years, and currently holds a UK Non-Executive Advisor role. She is experienced at holding Directors to account, making appropriate challenges and has good understanding of governance processes. Engaging with key internal and external stakeholders is another asset that Samantha has developed over her career alongside risk and performance management. Samantha has the expertise required of this Group NED role including a desire to pursue transformational opportunities to support the Trust’s Board of Directors to deliver cultural and quality improvements. Having led large scale digital transformation programmes, Samantha is passionate about technology and using digital products to put patients first while supporting healthcare organisations in reducing costs and effectively meeting patient needs.