Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

Alison Thorne-Henderson

Dual Chief People Officer

Alison joined Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) in 2022 and became Dual Chief People Officer for RCHT and Cornwall Foundation Trust in 2023. Alison is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors, a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development and holds a MA in Human Resource Management. She spent her early career in the private sector working for large retail companies before moving to TV/Radio broadcasting/ Internet and IT. Alison has worked as a HR Director within the acute NHS sector and held the role of the Chair for the HR network of the Association of UK University Hospitals ( AUKUH). Alison has held a Non-Executive Director role for Young Enterprise and a Board member role for NHS Employers Policy Board. Alison also has been a Chief Operating Officer within palliative care and held various Executive HR Director roles including University, Residential/Domiciliary care. Alison has a passion for inclusion and customer service.

Bernadette George

Acting Chief Nursing Officer

Berni has extensive experience as a senior nursing leader across Cornwall and the wider NHS, most recently as the Director Of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Healthcare Professionals. She previously held roles as the Director Of Integrated Governance and Director Of Patient Safety as well as our previous Safety and Quality Improvement Director when the Trust was in CQC Special Measures. Berni began her career in frontline nursing across critical care and then acute and specialist medicine before embarking on a corporate safety and quality role. A registered nurse with a masters in senior healthcare leadership, she brings a strong focus on quality, safety , risk and patient experience and as well developing staff.

Ella Stracey

Chief Strategy Officer

Ella joined RCHT in 2016 where she has held the roles of Associate Director of Transformation and Deputy Chief Operation Officer before most recently being the Deputy Director of Strategy and Performance. Ella is a qualified chartered accountant (CIMA) having graduated in the NHS as Financial Management Trainee in 2008. Since then, she has held a number of senior operational roles across a diverse range of clinical services as well as providing leadership of Research and Development, Charity and Transformation teams within the NHS. Ella is passionate about the impact quality improvement can have on both patient and staff experiences and she is proud to have led the establishment of the Quality Improvement Hub at RCHT.

Ian Dean

Chief Finance Officer

Ian joined Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust after relocating to Cornwall in 2017 and was most recently our Deputy Chief Finance Officer. Ian commenced in post as Interim Chief Finance Officer in January 2024 and also acts as Charity Treasurer for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Charity. Ian’s NHS career began in 1999 as a trainee accountant in Lancashire. Over the last 24 years he has worked in NHS clinical commission groups and NHS trusts and was Head of Management Accounts at the George Eliot Hospital and then Associate Director of Finance at South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust. Ian is a CIMA qualified accountant and is currently part of the National NHS Finance Leaders Talent Pool programme. In his time with RCHT Ian played a key role supporting the development and approval of the full business case, including Department of Health and Social Care approval, of the £33m investment in the new cancer and oncology unit which opened in 2023. Ian is passionate about working closely with services to deliver value based healthcare with focus on the outcomes of services as well as cost, ensuring sustainable high quality services exist for the patients of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly now and into the future.

Kelvyn Hipperson

Joint Chief Information Officer

Kelvyn worked in senior technology delivery roles in both the private sector and civil service prior to joining the NHS. He is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Engineering & Technology and Member of the British Computer Society.

Meridith Kane

Chief Medical Officer

Merry joined RCHT in November 2024 from Somerset Foundation Trust where she held the role of Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Medical Director for Acute Hospitals (Somerset), Responsible Officer Yeovil District Hospital and Consultant Paediatrician. Merry provided paediatric outpatient care with a special interest in urology and nephrology. Merry is an experienced board member and offers executive, strategic, and operational leadership to the Trust, however it is her experience as a clinician that keeps patients and families at the heart of her decision making. Merry is deeply committed to providing the best possible health and care services to the population of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and is proud to be a clinical leader shaping future models of care to better meet the needs of the shifting and unique demographic of those for whom we provide care.

Robin Jones

Chief Operating Officer

Robin joined RCHT in March 2019 as a General Manager before becoming the Deputy Chief Operating Officer later that year. Robin is passionate about the need to make our operational delivery patient centred and works with clinical colleagues to deliver the principles of the right patient to the right place at the right time. Whilst working at RCHT, Robin has led the operational response to the COVID pandemic and is now focused with teams on our recovery from the impacts of the pandemic. Prior to joining RCHT Robin worked in a number of NHS Trusts in operational roles between clinical support services and Urgent and Emergency Care, his NHS experience also includes Private Patient Services and Procurement.

Voting Member

Robin Jones Chief Operating Officer

David took up office as Trust Chair of the Trust on 7 January 2025 for a period of three years. He is a former Vice-Chair and non-executive director of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust. His executive career was as a university administrator. He is a former Registrar and Deputy Chief Executive of the University of Exeter and held similar appointments with the universities of Nottingham and Birmingham. He also worked at the universities of Southampton, Wales and the University of Wales College of Medicine. Throughout his career David has worked closely with the NHS and medical, dental, nursing and midwifery education and research. On the South West Peninsula David is a former member of the Joint Board of the former Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry and jointly chaired (with Falmouth University) the joint venture which established the Exeter/Falmouth university campus near Penryn. He is also a former Board member of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership. David is a former Chair of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and of Exeter College Further Education Corporation. He also sat on the Board of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and chaired its Audit and Risk Committee. He is an expert in corporate governance and has carried out numerous governance reviews of leading universities as a private consultant. In 2022/23 he led a review of the National Museum of Wales for the Welsh Government. In 2012 David was awarded the OBE for services to higher education. In 2013 he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the University of Exeter and he was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (the land of his birth) in 2021. He now chairs one of the Society’s committees for the election of new fellows. David felt especially honoured when Exeter named its new Student Services Centre after him in 2013 since he always prioritised the welfare and experience of students. Like students he strongly believes that patients should be at the heart of the system.

Adam Broome

Non-Executive Director

See the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee’s Terms of Reference . This committee meets at least five times a year.

Adrian Davis

Non-Executive Director

See the Finance and Performance Committee’s Terms of Reference .

Aled Jones

Associate Non-Executive Director

He is an international expert on patient safety and healthcare quality, leading and participating in research exploring the interface between workforce deployment, workplace culture, patient safety and staff wellbeing. Current research focusses on evaluating the implementation of several initiatives aimed at improving patient safety in a range of different contexts, including mental health and midwifery settings. He has advised a number of healthcare organisations in the UK and internationally, including contributing to the Welsh Government ‘Speak Up Safely’ advisory group and being an expert advisor and contributor to the United Nations (ODC) Guidance on Speaking Up in Healthcare.

Isobel Down

Vice Chair, Senior Independent Director

See the Quality Assurance Committee’s Terms of Reference .

Jon Foster

NExT Director

Jon joined RCHT as a NExT Director in December 2025, having moved to Cornwall earlier that year. He brings a specialist background in operational risk, assurance and governance, drawn from his current role as Director of Operational Risk at MTVH, a large affordable housing and non-profit social care provider. Before joining MTVH, Jon worked on the response to the Grenfell Tower fire and served as Head of Community Partnerships for a housing provider in North London and Hertfordshire. He is also a qualified executive coach. At RCHT, Jon’s particular interests include the Trust’s role in the wider public service ecosystem, our equalities approach for colleagues, patients and the people of Cornwall, and how we respond to challenging situations. The NExT Director Programme is a national development programme created to identify and support the ‘next generation of talented people from groups who are currently under‑represented on our NHS boards’. This is part of a positive action approach to increase the diversity and talent pool of people who want to be NHS non‑executives in the future.

Niamh Lamond

Associate Non-Executive Director

A Chartered Director and Fellow of both the Institute of Directors and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, she has held senior leadership positions across higher education in Wales, Northern Ireland and Cornwall. Throughout her career, Niamh has led major organisational transformation programmes, overseen significant capital developments and delivered complex shared-service and partnership arrangements. Prior to Swansea University, she served as Chief Operating Officer at Ulster University and was the founding Chief Executive Officer of Falmouth Exeter Plus, playing a key role in the development of higher education provision and university partnerships in Cornwall. She has also held a number of non-executive and trustee roles across the charitable, arts, renewable energy and tourism sectors.

Rae Hall

Associate Non-Executive Director

She has worked within the NHS in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly since 2000 and is Chief Executive Officer of Volunteer Cornwall. Rae has significant experience in community engagement, partnership working, and service development. Rae brings a strong understanding of local communities and a longstanding commitment to improving health and wellbeing through collaboration across organisations and sectors. Creative by nature, Rae is also a self-published author and brings a thoughtful and inclusive perspective to her work, informed by her lived experience as a neurodivergent person and parent. She is proud of her Cornish roots and lives in mid Cornwall with her family. Her contribution supports the Trust’s strategic ambition to work more closely with communities, improve population health, and strengthen collaboration with system partners.

Rebecca Hopkins

Clinical Non-Executive Director

Rebecca joined the trust as Clinical Non Executive Director in April 2026. She is the Non-Executive Director for Maternity Safety and the Chair of Organ Donation Committee. Rebecca is a local General Practitioner in mid Cornwall and has a passion for system collaboration and holistic care around the patient. She has been Clinical Lead for Planned Care and Cancer, and Musculoskeletal pathways, for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board for the last seven years prior to joining the board. Rebecca has experience in full system pathway collaboration and redesign, service development and implementation and innovative models of care. She has been involved and led on a number of key services including spinal, fracture liaison and community musculoskeletal care. She clinically led the team bringing Community Appointment Days to Cornwall, including the first Spinal Community Day in the UK. She has led on the configuration and implementation of the digital MSK self management app, getUBetter to help patients self manage their bone and joint problems in Cornwall and is a strong advocate for digital inclusion. Rebecca was also the Referral Management Service Operational Clinical Lead before joining the board. She has been involved extensively in working with specialist teams to produce clinical guidelines across all specialties.

Richard Kramer

Non-Executive Director

See the People and Culture Committee’s Terms of Reference . This committee meets at least 6 times a year.

Uzma Bozai

Non-Executive Director

Uzma spent her early career in campaigning, communications and fundraising for a leading international NGO and in the public sector. She has spent the last 12 years building a sustainable fashion brand supporting local artisan communities and collaborating with charity partners to launch collections with social impact. She has lived in Cornwall for the past 20 years and brings her entrepreneurial spirit and passion for supporting Cornish communities to her role at RCHT. The NHS England NExT Director Programme is a national development programme, led by NHS England and NHS Improvement, created and designed to identify and support the ‘next generation of talented people from groups who are currently under-represented on our NHS boards’. The programme focuses on supporting people from local ethnic minority communities and disabled people with senior level experience into board level roles in the NHS. This is part of a positive action approach to increase the diversity and talent pool of people who want to be NHS non-executives in the future.