Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Simon Sandhu

Chief Medical Officer

He has worked in the NHS for 30 years and as a consultant rehabilitation psychiatrist since 2004. Simon was appointed lead consultant for our rehabilitation services in 2007 and led the expansion of our inpatient rehabilitation beds bringing hundreds of people closer to home from out of areas placements. Committed to the values of the NHS, Simon has influenced and delivered significant changes at a local, regional and national level, including work for NHS England’s secure services clinical reference group, as higher training programme director for Health Education England and as Trust clinical lead for mental health law.

Nicky Littler

Chief People Officer

Nicky has over 20 years’ experience working within mental health NHS services. She started her career at Tameside Council, before joining the NHS. Nicky’s previous role was associate director of human resources in a large mental health trust. She has significant experience leading complex major workforce programmes and also supporting service transformation and organisational development. Nicky is committed to continually developing her skills and knowledge. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, which is the professional body for human resources and people development experts across the country. She also holds a professional coaching qualification, which allows her to offer coaching and mentoring at a senior level, and is a governor at Tameside College​​​.

Nicky Tamanis

Chief Finance Officer

Nicky was previously deputy chief finance officer at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group and brings a wealth of experience. Prior to this, Nicky was director of finance at the Bury and Rochdale Care Organisation and has also been deputy director of finance at both the Royal Liverpool Hospital and Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust. Nicky has been the executive sponsor for our race equality network since she joined, supporting our work to make Pennine Care an anti-racist organisation. As sponsor, Nicky promotes the network, shares valuable insights with our leaders, raises issues with the board, and helps champion diversity, inclusion, race equality and our work to challenge racism.

Sarah Preedy

Chief Operating Officer

She trained and worked as a mental health nurse before moving into management positions. Her experience includes 14 years working in senior roles at mental health trusts, including North West Boroughs Healthcare and Lancashire Care.

Tim McDougall

Chief Nursing and Allied Health Professionals Officer

Tim was previously director of nursing and quality (specialist network) at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust and, prior to that role, was associate director of nursing and governance at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Clare Todd

Non-Executive Director

Clare began her nursing career at Hope Hospital and Royal Manchester Children Hospital, before gaining extensive NHS experience in hospital, hospice and community settings. She has worked closely with GPs as a community nurse and has significant experience working with local authorities across the North West. Clare has undertaken senior roles in both provider and commissioning organisations throughout the NHS, including governing body nurse for NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Tameside and Glossop CCG.

Dr Alison Chambers

Deputy Chair and Senior Independent Director

Alison joined Pennine Care as a non-executive director and senior independent director in July 2023 and was appointed deputy chair in February 2026. Alison has almost 30 years of experience in higher education and has a significant and successful track record of strategic partnership development, large scale organisational change management, strategy development, implementation, and delivery. Her academic roles include Pro Vice Chancellor at Manchester Metropolitan University and Professor of Healthcare Education. Alison originally qualified as a chartered physiotherapist in 1985 and worked in clinical practice for 10 years before moving into higher education. She is also a non-executive director and senior independent director at the Northwest Ambulance NHS Trust and also a trustee with Penske dedication trust with lead responsibilities for special education needs.

Liz Allen

Non-Executive Director

Liz is a partner in The Connectives, a consultancy business focused on developing partnerships and projects to deliver sustainable solutions. She is also currently Chair of 42nd Street, the Greater Manchester young people’s mental health charity and a director of Social Enterprise UK and director of the Social Audit Network. Liz’s previous roles include deputy chief executive at East Liverpool Economic and Community Trust, manager at the Healthy Living Centre at Liverpool East Area Partnership, and finance manager at The Social Partnership. She is also a member of the Mayor of Manchester's Social Enterprise Advisor Group. Liz is passionate about making sure that people who use services, are able to design and influence those services, and she is looking forward to working with our patients, our staff and our council of governors. Liz is also our Wellbeing Guardian ​​​​​​. You can follow Liz on Twitter @LizBrooksAllen

Nora Ann Heery

Non-Executive Director

Nora Ann brings a wealth of financial management, commercial acumen and strong corporate governance experience and was a non-executive board member at ForViva Group Limited, a social purpose business anchored in the social housing sector. Nora Ann is committed to improving lives and the health and well-being of our communities.

Tim Barlow

Non-Executive Director

Tim was formerly deputy group chief financial officer at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and was previously a non-executive director of Trafford Primary Care Trust .

Viv Simon

Non-Executive Director

Viv is passionate about empowering individuals to achieve their best and is Chief Executive of the Pilkington Trust charity.