The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Mark Kellett

Chief Medical Officer

Dr Mark Kellett is Chief Medical Officer and a Consultant Neurologist at The Walton Centre. Mark graduated from Newcastle Upon Tyne University and completed his specialist training at The Walton Centre in 2000. During his registrar training he completed a Doctorate of Medicine (MD) on the genetics of Parkinson's disease and developed a sub-specialist interest in movement disorders. His clinical work includes general neurology and he has a specialist interest in Movement Disorders, Parkinson's Disease and Botulinum toxin therapy. Mark has been a Consultant Neurologist for more than 25 years. He was appointed as Chief Medical Officer at The Walton Centre in 2026. Previously, he was Salford Care Organisation Medical Director at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust. Prior to his role as Medical Director, he was Chair of the Manchester Centre for Clinical Neurosciences at Salford Royal Hospital. Membership of professional regional and national bodies

Gary Price

Chief Operating Officer

He has worked for over 25 years in the NHS starting his career as an orthoptist at Alder Hey. Since then, he has held many managerial and leadership roles across Cheshire and Merseyside including experience in primary, community, mental health, secondary and tertiary care.

Jane Mullin

Interim Director of HR

She is qualified to Master's level, with a Strategic HR Management qualification and is a member of the CIPD. Jane's portfolio as the interim Director of HR covers HR, training and development, equality, diversity and inclusion, and innovation.

Matt Connor

Chief Digital Information Officer

Matt was appointed as Chief Digital Information Officer at The Walton Centre in April 2025 in a shared role with University Hospitals of Liverpool Group where he is Group Chief Digital and Information Officer. Prior to this, Matt was Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust. Matt has worked for more than two decades in a number of digital services roles at NHS organisations across Cheshire and Merseyside and has held a number of senior leadership positions. Prior to his CIO role at Liverpool Women's, he held the position of Deputy Director of Informatics at Mid-Mersey Digital Alliance, and at Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, where he was Head of Digital Services. He has also provided leadership as Cyber Security SRO and Chair for the Cheshire and Merseyside ICS.

Mike Burns

Chief Financial Officer

Mike joined The Walton Centre in 2012 as Deputy Director of Finance after previously working for the Strategic Health Authority and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust. He qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant (CIMA) in 2001 after gaining a BSc (Hons) in Economics. Mike has worked in a range of sectors including consultancy, financial services, banking and retail. Mike took up the post of Director of Finance at The Walton Centre in 2016 and has responsibility for finance, procurement, capital, commercial development and corporate information.

Nicola Martin

Chief Nurse

Nicola has over 20 years' experience working in the NHS after qualifying as a nurse in 2002. She has held a variety of senior nurse positions in the north west and joined The Walton Centre as Deputy Chief Nurse in September 2021 from Wirral University Teaching Hospital. She was appointed Chief Nurse at The Walton Centre in November 2023. Nicola is currently working towards her MSc in Leadership and Management. She is dedicated to ensuring the highest standards of nursing care and patient experience.

Clive Elliott

Non-Executive Director

Clive is from Liverpool and was a Senior Executive with Barclays UK and Co-operative Financial Services for 33 years before becoming an independent management consultant specialising in transformational change management. He has a Masters in Business Administration from Kingston University; is Pro-Chancellor and Chair of the Board at Edge Hill University, Chair of its Governance Committee and its subsidiary companies, and a member of its Remuneration Committee; and is a Non-Executive Director of Jigsaw Homes North (a social housing provider). An advocate for fair access to healthcare for all, Clive is particularly passionate about the patient and staff experience being the priority focus for services' development and about bringing differing healthcare capabilities together to provide integrated care and to address health inequalities.

David Topliffe

Non-Executive Director

David is a chartered chemical engineer with 37 years of manufacturing experience in the chemical industry, mainly with Royal Dutch Shell. Amongst various senior leadership responsibilities, he has served as a Non-Executive Director within joint ventures and a large trade association, where he chaired the audit committee and a technical committee. David has a number of voluntary roles, including as a street pastor and a debt counsellor within a community-based debt advice centre.

Professor Paul May MBE

Non-Executive Director

Paul was appointed as Merseyside's first Paediatric Neurosurgeon (based at the old Walton Centre Rice Lane site) in 1991 after training in London, Dundee, Sheffield, Birmingham and Toronto. He established the paediatric neurosurgical service in Alder Hey and brought supraregional specialist craniofacial services to the city in 1997. He remained in active neurosurgical practice at The Walton Centre until September 2021. He has served as the first Chair of the Neurosurgical Clinical Reference Group for NHS England and from 2013 to 2019 chaired the Trauma Programme of Care Board for NHS England. In 2016 he was elected as President of the Society of British and Irish Neurosurgeons, the first from Liverpool in the society's 100-year history. In January 2020 he was appointed as Director of Clinical Academic Development to the University of Liverpool and is currently the National Clinical Lead for Adolescent and Paediatric Neurosurgery in the GIRFT programme. He was appointed an MBE in the New Year's Honours 2025 for services to neurosurgery and charitable fundraising.

Ray Walker

Non-Executive Director

Su Rai

Non-Executive Director and Deputy Chair

Other roles have included senior positions at KPMG and Audit Partner in Horwarth Clark Whitehill, and Mazars Accountants. Su has also undertaken a number of voluntary roles, including working with a mental health charity for young people. Su was appointed Deputy Chair at The Walton Centre in November 2022.