Herts & Essex Community HospitalCM23 5JHMixed service hospital
Princess Alexandra HospitalCM20 1QXGeneral acute hospital
St. Margaret's HospitalCM16 6TNMixed service hospital
Clarion Housing Group Accommodation Block 1CM20 1EJNon inpatient
Galen House, HarlowCM20 1DWNon inpatient
Kao ParkCM17 9NANon inpatient
Unit 5 ColdharbourCM19 5JHNon inpatient
Other Reportable SitesCM20 1QXOther Reportable Site
16 people recorded
Chair
Darshana Bawa
Chair
Darshana joined The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust as a Non-Executive Director in February 2022. After taking up the role of Acting Chair in April 2025, she was appointed as the substantive Chair in May 2026.
She brings extensive Board-level experience from a successful career spanning finance, operations, people leadership and corporate governance in the private sector. Darshana has held Finance Director and Managing Director positions across a range of organisations, leading business transformation, strategic planning and organisational development initiatives.
Passionate about supporting high-quality healthcare services and positive workplace cultures, Darshana is committed to working collaboratively with colleagues, partners and stakeholders to support the Trust’s long-term ambitions and deliver its Rise strategy, enabling the best possible outcomes for patients, staff and local communities.
Thom joined The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) in November 2024 from Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare (HRCH), where he was deputy chief executive and director of strategy. Previous to that, Thom was the director of strategy at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust and has over 12 years of Board experience in areas including strategy, transformation and corporate governance.
Thom has worked with or for the NHS his whole career in a wide range of roles. He has particularly led on strategy and transformation.
Andrew joined The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) in August 2025 as Chief Medical Officer. He was previously Executive Medical Director at Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board, with a strong background in medical leadership, patient safety, integrated system working, quality improvement, and equality, diversity and inclusion.
Andrew has worked in the NHS for 27 years in a number of hospitals in clinical and leadership roles. He is a Consultant Neurologist with an interest in epilepsy, and continues to deliver outpatient epilepsy clinics for the people of West Essex and East Hertfordshire.
Anna Jebb
Chief Operating Officer
Anna has worked in the NHS for over 20 years, starting through the NHS graduate scheme. Since that time, she has held a number of senior operational roles, mainly in the acute sector. Her most recent experience was as Acting Director of Strategy at Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, where she led on the merger of the acute and local community trusts.
Anna is passionate about delivering excellent services for patients and making sure that staff are happy and developed in the roles that they do. Anna has led on a number of transformational programmes over the years, working closely with primary care and community colleagues.
Giovanna Leeks
Chief People Officer
Giovanna has 20 years of experience and knowledge of people-led initiatives including recruitment; workforce and performance management; staff wellbeing and employee relations, from both private and NHS organisations.
She started her NHS human resources (HR) career as the first head of HR for NHS England (NHSE) Midlands and East in 2013. She has since undertaken a variety of contracts in the NHS across London and the east of England including at Kingston Hospital, Royal Free London Group, Hertfordshire Community Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, with contracts in the private sector including FTSE100 and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) organisations.
With a commitment to high quality services for our people and patients, Giovanna is delighted to have joined The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) in October 2023 as the deputy chief people officer, taking the interim chief people officer position in July 2024, and taking the chief people officer position in May 2025.
Jim McLeish
Chief Transformation Officer
Jim is a registered nurse with a specialist background in emergency care. He joined the NHS in 1990, where he has held a number of senior clinical and operational roles including director of transformation and director of business delivery, before taking up his current post as chief transformation officer.
He has a wide range of operational management, change management, and project management experience.
Jim’s role supports the Trust to develop and enhance care pathways, working alongside our clinical leadership teams to support them in delivering quality and service improvements.
Jim has a diverse portfolio, which includes modernisation and transformation of our clinical support services as well as supporting the delivery of our new system-wide transformation programme with colleagues across West Essex.
Jo Ward
Chief Nursing Officer (Interim)
Jo has worked at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust since 2006 and undertaken a number of senior leadership roles, including associate director of nursing (ADoN) for both clinical support services (CSS) and medicine; and in 2024 held the interim deputy chief nurse post for a period of time.
Jo says she is “passionate about delivering high-quality patient care, workforce development and transforming patient pathways to deliver care in the most appropriate setting”.
Michael Meredith
Chief Strategy Officer
Michael started at the trust in 2018. He is responsible for developing the Trust’s strategy, which includes how we work with our partners in the NHS and with other organisations to deliver the best possible services to our local population.
Michael brings a range of experience and expertise to the trust, having started his career as a research scientist with a PhD in immunology and immunogenetics, led a technology development group at the University of Oxford and spent the last fourteen years developing commercial and strategic healthcare services for a wide range of commissioners and providers across the UK and beyond. He is passionate about high quality care delivered by a caring and compassionate workforce to everyone who needs it.
Tom Burton
Chief Financial and Infrastructure Officer and Interim Deputy Chief Executive
Tom was appointed as chief financial and infrastructure officer in July 2022, after joining PAHT as interim finance director in May 2022.
He was previously the strategic planning director for the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, a secondment from his role as operational director of finance for the regional NHS England and NHS Improvement team.
He began his career as a mechanical engineer, before becoming an accountant. Tom joined the NHS in 2009 from local government, where he qualified as a public sector accountant (CIPFA). His experience includes financial management roles at organisations including Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust, Barts Health NHS Trust and Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Tom is dedicated to making a difference for our patients and people by leading our financial services across PAHT.
Dr Ben Molyneux is an experienced clinician with a wealth of leadership experience. He works clinically as a GP in London with a special interest in urgent care. Ben is also Associate Medical Director of NHS North East London, responsible for the primary care needs of 2.4million local residents. Ben has previously chaired two national British Medical Association (BMA) committees and in that time led and participated in national contract negotiations for UK doctors.
Ben joined the Board as an Associate Non-Executive Director in 2025 and became a Non-Executive Director in August 2026.
Colin McCready
Non-Executive Director
Colin McCready joined PAHT as a non-executive director in February 2022.
Colin is currently chief financial officer (CFO) with NHS Supply Chain, a role he has held since December 2019 (he was additionally acting chief executive officer (CEO) from November 2020 to August 2021). Before this, he worked at NHS Professionals, where he held the position of CFO and then interim CEO.
Colin has led transformation programmes, delivering revenue growth, improved service delivery through technological investment and building more customer-focused organisations.
Prior to NHS Professionals, Colin held senior finance director roles at public sector outsourcers Serco and professional services provider Control Risks.
A chartered global management accountant and chartered institute of management accountant, Colin holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance Speciality) achieved at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada.
David Baines
Non-Executive Director
David is a Non-Executive Director who joined the Trust in November 2025. He was previously Chief Finance Officer for the Integrated Care 24 group who provide 111, Emergency and Out of Hours Care in the South East of England including Mid and South Essex.
Isabelle Parasram
Non-Executive Director
Isabelle is a Non-Executive Director with The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust and Co-op Homes, specialising in transformational leadership, governance, regulation, and social value. She also serves as Panel Chair for the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Fitness to Practise Committee and as a Determinations Panel Member for The Pensions Regulator, protecting the public and upholding professional standards. Previously, she was the founding CEO of the Institute for Social Value, practised as a barrister for nearly three decades, and served as Vice President of a UK political party. In 2022, she was awarded an OBE for services to public and political life.
Mark Gammage
Associate Non-Executive Director
Mark is a Human Resources Management Consultant. He has managed Dearden, a management consultancy specialising in HR and organisational development, since 2002 and has worked as a substantive or interim HR Director in 17 different organisations including NHS Trusts. He has also worked as a Chief Operating Officer in a large London NHS teaching hospital.
After studying as an undergraduate in the UK and the United States, Mark started working life as a graduate management trainee in the NHS. He has an MBA from Henley Management College and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (distinction).
Mark has lived in West Essex all his life and is delighted to have joined the Board at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in August 2026.
Oge Austin-Chukwu
Non-Executive Director
Dr Oge joined the Trust in September 2023 as a Non-Executive Director.
Oge brings over 30 years of experience working within the NHS, first in obstetrics and gynaecology and later as a local GP.
During this time, she has held various roles including a senior partner, GP appraiser and medical tutor. As a qualified leadership/executive coach, Oge works with people and organisations to support with clarity on their vision, strategy and performance.
Oge is a passionate advocate for innovation and sustainable progress to drive growth, while sharing her experiences as an entrepreneur from a Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) background to embed cultures of diversity and inclusion.
Outside of the NHS and coaching, Oge is director of several SMEs, co-host of a leadership podcast that provides insights for BAME female leaders, and co-founder of a social enterprise that supports leaders and organisations to implement and maintain diversity and inclusion targets.
Ralph Coulbeck
Associate Non-Executive Director
Ralph has a background of over 20 years in healthcare, currently he is the Chief Strategy Officer at North East London Integrated Care Board (ICB). Previously, he was CEO of Whipps Cross Hospital, where he also led the Waltham Forest Healthcare partnership; bringing together primary care, community service and the voluntary sector to deliver improved services for local residents. Ralph has significant leadership experience in working across the NHS.
Photographs are shown from the organisation’s own website.
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