South West Yorkshire Partnership Teaching NHS Foundation Trust

Adele Fox

Chief operating officer

Adele has an MSc in health and social care leadership and she has also completed the Nye Bevan Leadership Academy award. Adele’s leadership is rooted in collaboration, compassion, integrity, and a commitment to ensuring service users live the best lives they can. As chief operating officer, Adele oversees the operational delivery of all services across the organisation. Responsibilities include ensuring the smooth and effective running of services, promoting services to be clinically led and operationally delivered, and supporting innovation and transformation. Adele works closely with teams to align strategic priorities with the daily needs of our services, ensuring that care is accessible, clinically led and impactful.

Adrian Snarr

Executive director of finance, estates and resources

Christine Brereton

Chief people officer

Christine is passionate about looking after the staff, who look after our patients, and has a focus on health and wellbeing, effective leadership and is committed to the EDI agenda. She has a track record of delivering HR services and implementing major change programmes, with a focus on improvement and continuous learning. Christine is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Darryl Thompson

Chief Nurse and Director of Quality and Professions

Dawn Lawson

Executive director of strategy and change

Dawn is a collaborative leader who has experience of leading in complex systems, working across the health and academic sectors and the life sciences industry. Dawn has a track record of implementing improvement and innovation that leads to tangible change for patients. Dawn is co-chair of the National Institute for Health Research Impact Board.

Professor Subha Thiyagesh

Chief medical officer

Since receiving her Doctorate in Medicine in the dementia field from the University of Sheffield Subha has held a number of posts including being appointed to the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Board of Examiners and as a national peer reviewer of the Memory Service National Accreditation Programme. Subha is the clinical lead for our older people’s change programme and has been leading the development of our medical workforce strategy. In January Subha was awarded the Nye Bevan NHS Leadership Academy Award in Executive Healthcare Leadership and was the winner of the Leader of the Year award in our Trust’s Excellence awards in 2016.

Gary Ellis

Non-executive director

Margaret Kitching

Non-executive director

Martin Neeson

Non-executive director

Martin was awarded the Financial Times Non-Executive Director Diploma – Level 7 Advanced Professional Diploma in 2024, consolidating his skills and knowledge obtained during his executive career. He is passionate about making a positive contribution to the benefit of society and is committed to investing his time in supporting the community in which he lives. To this end he is an advisor to the development committee of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust.

Mike Ford

Non-executive director

Mike was also regularly involved in the promotion of inclusivity and diversity across the BBC with a specific focus on disability as well as being regularly involved in sensitive and complex support at work initiatives. Page last updated on: 16 th October 2024 © 2026 South West Yorkshire Partnership Teaching NHS Foundation Trust

Mitch Waterman

Appointed associate non-executive director (University of Leeds)

Natalie McMillan

Non-executive director

Nat now runs her own business specialising in HR and OD. Nat continues to play a role in the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership as chair of the Primary Care Workforce group. She is passionate about reducing inequalities and growing diverse representation. This has led her to her current role of as Chair of Kyra, a women’s project based in York.

Rokaiya Khan

Non-executive director

She is a national leader on women’s justice, having co-founded the National Women’s Justice Coalition and advised government through the Advisory Board on Female Offenders since 2015. Rokaiya has secured significant funding for community services, championed co-commissioning with local partners, and shaped national policy to reduce the use of custody for women. Her career reflects a strong commitment to equity, inclusion, and lived experience leadership. She has contributed to publications on women’s experiences of the justice system and regularly speaks at national events on rehabilitation, leadership, and systemic change. Alongside her national work, Rokaiya serves as a school governor in Batley and is deeply rooted in her local community, with a strong belief in creating safer futures by listening to the voices of women, families, and communities