Ruth is Chief Executive of Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, which specialises in providing integrated care for children and young people with an increasing focus on health inequalities. She is also a trustee of Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity and, was a trustee of Voluntary Action Sheffield until October 2025.
Ruth has spent her entire career in the NHS working in regional and local organisations in both provider and commissioning roles. As Chief Executive for Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust she leads an organisation of more than 4000 colleagues who strive to provide a healthier future for children and young people through both physical and mental healthcare and community services.
Ruth is a compassionate leader who understands the importance of listening. She listens carefully to patients, their families, colleagues and partners in her mission to continuously improve patient and colleague experience. She has a wealth of knowledge in leading complex change at regional level.
She believes deeply in the power of partnerships and collaboration and is currently the lead CEO for the South Yorkshire Acute Federation and South Yorkshire Children and Young People’s Alliance. Ruth chairs the Children, Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Clinical Network in North East Yorkshire and is Co-Chair of the National Children’s Hospital Alliance.
Ruth is an alumni of the University of Sheffield and regularly leads Masterclass sessions in leadership as well as being a member of the Management School Advisory Board.
Craig was appointed as Chief Operating Officer on 1 April 2022 having previously held the posts of Deputy Director of Strategy and Operations, Operations Director, and Acting Executive Director of Operations since joining the Trust as Associate Director for Medicine in 2015.
Craig has 24 years NHS experience, holding a range of senior operational and strategic management posts in primary care and acute hospitals. Craig is a graduate of the NHS National Graduate Training Scheme and holds an MSc in Healthcare Leadership and Management.
Craig is accountable for the operational function of the organisation, including waiting times as well as being the Trust’s Accountable Emergency Officer for Emergency, Planning, Resilience and Response.
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Dr Jeff Perring
Executive Medical Director, Caldicott Guardian
Jeff joined the Trust in 2002 as a consultant intensivist in the PCCU (Paediatric Critical Care Unit). Alongside his clinical work Jeff led the PCCU through a number of major changes including the development of a High Dependency Unit, the introduction of Advanced Nurse Practitioners, the Trust’s designation as a Paediatric Major Trauma Centre and the establishment of Embrace, the Yorkshire and Humber Infant and Children’s Transport Service.
Jeff was appointed as a Deputy Medical Director in 2016. Outside the Trust he has been joint lead for the Yorkshire and Humber Paediatric Critical Care Network (2013-18) and Council member (Vice chair) of the Yorkshire and Humber Clinical Senate (2014-19).
Jeff was appointed into the role of Executive Medical Director and Responsible Officer for the Trust in July 2018. He is responsible for patient safety and medical activity within the Trust and in particular the appraisal and revalidation of medical colleagues. Jeff works closely with the Chief Nurse on quality and patient safety and is the lead executive for mental health and patient safety.
John Williams
Chief Finance Officer and Deputy Chief Executive
John joined Sheffield Children’s as the Executive Director of Finance in July 2019, becoming Deputy Chief Executive in August 2022.
John previously worked as Deputy Director of Finance at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, leading its Finance and Contracting Services and also served periods as Acting Director of Finance. He has also had senior roles at Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
John is a graduate of Sheffield Hallam University, the NHS National Graduate Training Scheme and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Along with Trust finances John’s portfolio also includes Digital, Estates and Procurement Services and leading the delivery of the Trust Green Plan.
He represents the Trust as a director of Legacy Park Limited, a company committed to the regeneration of the Olympic Legacy Park in Attercliffe, Sheffield and is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Environmental Sustainability Special Interest Group and Policy and Research Committee.
Nick Parker
Chief People Officer
Nick joined Sheffield Children’s on 1 July 2019 as Executive Director of People and Organisational Development.
He had previously been the Director of People and OD at Airedale NHS FT, having joined the Trust in May 2010.
Nick’s career prior to joining the NHS was in the public sector where he worked in a number of Government Departments in senior HR roles having progressed from his early career in management within the Employment Service.
Nick is a Chartered Fellow of CIPD (The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) and has been a CIPD member for over 30 years. He has a Masters of Education (MEd) in Training and Development.
In 2019 Nick won the Health Education Heat Award – Champion of Diversity, Inclusion and Widening Participation for his work on EDI initiatives in West Yorkshire.
Nick is currently the Co-Chair of North East and Yorkshire Social Partnership Forum (SPF) and an employer representative at national SPF meetings.
Yvonne Millard MBE
Chief Nurse
Yvonne Millard MBE joined Sheffield Children’s in September 2022 as Chief Nurse. She is responsible for nursing, AHP and quality, patient engagement and involvement, clinical governance, security and hotel services and risk management.
Prior to joining us, Yvonne spent over 10 years at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in a variety of roles and most recently as Deputy Chief Nurse. She was instrumental in leading Birmingham Children’s Hospital to become the first children’s hospital in the country to be rated Outstanding by the CQC and maintained this rating in 2019.
Yvonne qualified as a registered general nurse in 1989 and as a paediatric nurse in 1995, going on to attain a Masters Degree in advanced practice and the Nye Bevan Award in Executive Healthcare Management.
She was awarded the MBE for services to paediatric nursing in 2019 and the gold CNO award in 2022 for outstanding contribution to nursing.
Fatima has established a strong reputation as an advocate for Public and Carer Involvement, Compassionate Leadership, and Inclusion. She has been consistently acknowledged in the Health Service Journal’s (HSJ) list of the top 50 most influential health leaders from ethnic minority backgrounds.
She has previously spearheaded several initiatives within the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership that have achieved multiple awards and gained national recognition. These efforts have contributed to significant legislative changes and government policy reforms in areas such as Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), Long-Term Conditions, Personalisation, and Carer Support.
In addition to her roles, Fatima serves on several non-executive boards, including the Sheffield Children’s Hospital, and as Chair of the Sheffield Race Equality Partnership.
Beyond her professional responsibilities, Fatima is an active podcaster and blogger who focuses on topics such as authentic leadership, health inequalities, EDI, Public Carer Involvement. She is also involved at national level as a member of the NHS Assembly and the King’s Fund General Council. Her previous roles include positions at West Yorkshire Combined Authority, NHS England, Kirklees CCGs, Kirklees Council, Health Education England, and Healthwatch.
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Jon Eggleton
Non-executive Director
Jon was appointed to the Sheffield Children’s Board as a Non-executive Director in March 2020. He is the chair of the Performance Committee.
Jon is currently Chair and Board advisor to a number of business start-ups. Previously he was the UK Managing Director of United Biscuits, having been Marketing Director.
Prior to that he held a number of senior marketing roles at Diageo, in both the UK and Singapore, and at HP Bulmer where he was a PLC Board member.
Jon is married with two children and is a University of Sheffield graduate.
Jon chairs the Trust’s Performance Committee and is a member of the Quality Committee and the Board Nominations and Remuneration Committee. He was appointed Deputy Chair of the Trust in December 2023.
Peter Hartland
Non-Executive Director
Peter Hartland is a Non-Executive Director at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, he joined in 2024.
Peter is a graduate of the University of Bath, where he studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Peter qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst and Young and followed a career in industry before moving into the Higher Education and ultimately the charity sector. For 15 years he was Chief Executive of St Luke’s Hospice in Sheffield, an independent charity operating in the wider healthcare sector specialising in palliative and end of life care, before standing down from this role in June 2024.
Peter is a trustee of The Sheffield Town Trust and The Children’s Hospital Charity, chairing their Finance Committees. He’s also a Non-executive Director of the Gripple Group of companies based in Sheffield, and an external lay member of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee at the University of Bath. Amongst other roles Peter has also served as chair of the Institute of Chartered Accountants’ Business Law Committee, and been a member of its Technical Strategy Board and Sustainability Committee.
Peter acted as Finance Director for both Sheffield and Leeds Universities Students’ Unions earlier in his career, and as a grandparent has a keen interest in the health and welfare of children and young people.
Peter Mucklow CBE
Non-executive Director
Peter is the chair of the People and Engagement Committee.
Peter Mucklow joined Sheffield Children’s as a non-executive director on 1 September 2023. Peter is a highly experienced public sector leader with a consistently successful track record over 25 years in delivering high profile Government programmes in further and higher education, training and children’s services, and with distinctive strengths in programme leadership, financial management, stakeholder management, leading multi-disciplinary and multi-site teams, working with senior leaders and politicians, and board governance.
He was Director of Apprenticeships for the Department of Education from 2020-2023, prior to which he held the roles of Director of Further Education Funding and Director of Young People in the same department. Peter has decades of experience working in children and education services through a variety of roles including at Sheffield City Council and as a trustee for the Steel City Schools Partnership Trust.
In 2024 Peter was awarded a CBE for services to education.
Prof Jaydip Ray DL
Non-Executive Director
Jaydip was appointed to the Board as Non-executive Director on 1 January 2025.
He has held multiple senior leadership roles, including Clinical Director, Training Programme Director (Yorkshire and Humber), Deputy National Specialty Lead (National Institute for Health Research), member of Specialist Advisory Committee (Royal College of Surgeons) and Council member for Royal Society of Medicine. He has extensive clinical experience from the UK as well as Australia and the US.
He has served as the High Sheriff of South Yorkshire (2023-24) and has supported and recognised many public, private and voluntary organisations in the country. He is the Deputy Lieutenant for South Yorkshire, a Professor of Otology and Neurotology at the University of Sheffield, and Professor of ENT at Sheffield Hallam University. Jaydip is also a Trustee at Sheffield Town Trust, South Yorkshire Community Foundation and is a Member of International Global Healthy Hearing Ears Collaborative.
In his role at the Trust, Jaydip is a member of Performance Committee and Quality Committee.
Ros Moore
Non-executive Director
Ros is the chair of the Quality Committee.
Ros joined the Trust as a non-executive director on 1 October 2022 having served nearly eight years as a NED of Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. She is an Associate Lecturer and Practice Tutor to the Open University and was previously the Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland and Director in the Scottish Government until 2015. She was conferred with an honorary doctorate from Leeds University in 2016 for services to nursing and healthcare.
Other roles she has held include CEO of a National Nursing Charity, trustee of the Association for Perioperative Practice, Professional Nursing Officer at the Department of Health and National Director for Quality and Learning and Deputy Clinical Director for NHS Direct. She has also held roles in acute hospitals including Assistant Director of Nursing, Professional Development Lead Sister or Tutor, and Staff Nurse in Elderly Medicine, Paediatrics and Surgery at Pontefract and Pinderfields Hospitals.
Her interests are in people and patient experience, quality and safety, quality improvement and the digital agenda. She is chair of the Quality Committee, a member of the Risk and Audit Committee and Nominations and Remuneration Committee as well as non-executive director with responsibility for speaking up. Ros is the Senior Independent Director.
Shaeen Azam
Non-executive Director
Shaeen is the chair of the Risk and Audit Committee.
Shaeen is currently Chief Finance Officer at Golden Lane Housing, based in Manchester. She is a member of the National Housing Federation Finance Policy Advisory Group.
Shaeen is a Chartered Certified Accountant and corporate treasurer and holds an MBA from the University of Birmingham. She took up her role as Associate Non-executive Director on 1 October 2021 and was appointed as a Non-executive Director on 1 October 2022.
Photographs are shown from the organisation’s own website.
