University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Adel Jones

Chief Operating Officer

Darryn Allcorn

Chief Nurse and Director of Integrated Clinical Professions

Darryn is our Chief Nurse and Director of Integrated Clinical Professions. Bringing a wealth of experience and nursing leadership capability to his current role, Darryn has previously worked as Chief Nursing Officer with NHS Devon, Strategic Nursing Officer for the Nightingale Exeter, and Senior Responsible Officer for the COVID vaccination programme across the county during the pandemic. Darryn joined on 01 May 2023 on a 12-month secondment and was appointed to a permanent position in September 2023. Contact Darryn via email at plh-tr.corporateadminsupport@nhs.net .

Dr Anjula Mehta

Joint Chief Medical Officer

Anjula qualified as a General Practitioner in 2004 following completion of her GP training in Bristol and South Wales. She developed a special interest in Women and Children’s Health and obtained her Diploma in Child Health and Diploma at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. She further consolidated her clinical practice working in a suburban practice in South Wales before taking on the role as Civilian Medical Practitioner at the Regional Medical Centre MOD St Athan in 2010. Under Anjula’s leadership the practice became a regional centre of excellence for postgraduate training and education for doctors, nurses and military personnel. Anjula was awarded the Fellowship at the Royal College for General Practitioners in 2015 for her contributions to Medical Education and Patient Care. Anjula continued her leadership journey and was appointed as the Clinical Lead for the Primary Care Operational Support Team with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in November 2015 before joining Swansea Bay University Health Board as the Clinical Director for Primary Care and Community Services. She continuously progressed her career with serving as the Service Group Medical Director for Primary Care and Community Services from 2019 to 2023. In January 2023 she was successful in her application for the Deputy Executive Medical Director role and in August 23 she was offered the opportunity to take on the Acting Executive Medical Director for a period of fourteen months, which provided valuable board level insight and experience. She returned to her substantive role in November 2024. Dr Anjula Mehta joined the Trust in June 2025 and said: "I am truly honoured to join University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trusts as the Chief Medical Officer for Clinical Transformation and Operational Delivery. I look forward to working alongside an exceptional team to build on the great progress at UHP and further advance our shared commitment to providing compassionate, high-quality care. I am confident that together, we will continue to improve patient outcomes, and ensure the well-being of the communities we serve. I am passionate about fostering an environment of continuous learning and innovation and building strong, collaborative teams with the joint vision to put our patients’ needs first."

Herjinder Cleaver

Interim Chief People Officer

Mark Hamilton

Joint Chief Medical Officer

Mark undertook his training at St. George’s Hospital Medical School and qualified in 1994. Since 2006, he has been a Consultant and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Anaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine at St. George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Medical School. Alongside this, Mark became a member of the Governing Body of Surrey Downs CCG in 2013 and in 2016 a member of the Governing Body of Lewisham CCG. In April 2017, Mark was appointed as a part-time Medical Director for CSH Surrey, an organisation that was the first of its type in the country. From this, he moved to become Executive Clinical Director of the Surrey Heartlands ICS Academy. In 2014, Mark became the Clinical Director for Adult Critical care and the Clinical Lead for the Perioperative Assessment & Planning Unit at St George’s, before being appointed as the Associate Medical Director for Quality Improvement and Clinical Transformation in 2016. He is also the Co-Director of Evidence Based Perioperative Medicine. Mark joined the Trust in January 2021 and said: “I am delighted to join University Hospitals Plymouth at such an exciting time for the Trust. The passion for the Trust and the community it serves is clear in all of you I have spoken to and is reflected in the outstanding care you provide for patients. We have a generational opportunity to shape care for the patients of Devon and Cornwall through getting the basics right, our new clinical strategy to inform the investment in better designed buildings and integrated care to help manage demand. This will allow us to provide truly outstanding and world class services for patients and continue to be a great place for staff to work. I look forward to meeting and getting to know many more of you over the next few months and helping to lead the Trust through this next exciting chapter in Derriford’s history."

Rachel O’Connor

Director of Integrated Care, Partnerships and Strategy

Rachel joined the Trust on 01 May 2023, having previously worked as Director for Inclusion (Commissioning) with Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board. Rachel brings with her more than 20 years’ experience in the NHS and local authority, having worked for the West Midlands and more recently in Cornwall, including time spent as a Chief Operating Officer and Director of Performance and Delivery. She has seven years’ experience in system leadership and health care commissioning and has a particular interest in reducing inequalities and partnership working to improve citizen health and wellbeing outcomes. Rachel said: “As the new Integrated Care Systems become further established, I am looking forward to using my skills and experience to help shape the local integrated care delivery in Plymouth, Devon and across the wider peninsula, bringing about the benefits of more joined-up working for our local population.”

Sarah Brampton

Chief Finance Officer

Sarah rejoined the Trust as Chief Finance Officer in April 2019. Sarah previously worked for the Trust as Director of Financial Services and Deputy Director of Finance, before taking up the post of Director of Finance at Devon Partnership NHS Trust in March 2013. She was later appointed Deputy Chief Executive there in 2016. Sarah has more than 20 years' healthcare experience and has worked within all sectors of the NHS, including acute, mental health and commissioning. Follow Sarah on Twitter: @SarahBrampton To contact Sarah via email plh-tr.corporateadminsupport@nhs.net

Amit Dhulkotia

Non-Executive Director

Ashley Grist

Non-Executive Director

Ashley Grist was appointed Non-executive Director with effect from 6th April, 2026. Ashley is a chartered accountant and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales. He is also a chartered director and fellow of the Institute of Directors. He has held finance roles of increasing responsibility in the life sciences industry for the past 30 years. His most recent roles were Group Financial Controller at AstraZeneca plc and then Chief Financial Officer International at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc just prior to his early retirement in November, 2025. Ashley is Honorary Treasurer and Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee on the board of Retina UK, a charity dedicated to researching treatments for inherited retinal disease and supporting impacted families.

Dame Angela Pedder

Non Executive Director

Dame Angela Pedder was appointed as new Non-Executive Director with effect from 01 October 2023. Angela, former Chief Executive of the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust is an esteemed NHS and public-sector leader with over 40 years’ experience, including 32 years at Chief Executive/Executive Director level. Angela’s portfolio of experience encompasses acute, primary and community, mental health, learning disability, strategic human resourcing, commissioning, partnership working (education, industry, and local authority) and system leadership. In 2018, she was made a Dame in recognition of her Services to Healthcare. Angela is also Chair of Trustees for Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education a charity which runs The Deaf Academy, based in Exmouth. She brings with her significant non-executive director experience in education, residential care, and the charitable sector.

Dr Helen Smith

Non-Executive Director

Dr Helen Smith will join us as a Non-Executive Director, bringing more than 30 years of clinical and leadership roles at provider, regional and national level. National Clinical Advisor for Mental Health with NHS England Safety team for 5 years, she led the development of the mental health component of the National Patient Safety Strategy and the National Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Services Improvement programme. She was the clinical lead for the South of England Quality and Safety Improvement for more than 14 years and spent 8 years as executive medical director at Devon Partnership NHS Trust. Dr Smith has experience working beyond mental health. She has supported improvements in NHS 111 services, acute trust emergency departments and the establishment of the Exeter Nightingale Hospital through her work with the South West Academic Health Science Network (now Health Innovation South West). She has spent time in the US with the Institute of Healthcare Improvement and the Billions Institute and has worked with health and social care systems in England and Wales to scale and spread a wide range of interventions. Dr Helen Smith will join the UHP Board this summer (2024).

Kathryn Halford

Non-Executive Director

Laura Bowater

Non Executive Director

Professor Laura Bowater MBE has recently moved to take on a new role as Head of Plymouth Medical School. In her previous roles at the University of East Anglia and Norwich Medical School, Professor Bowater was the Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor for Innovation and a Professor in Microbiology Education and Engagement focused on the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. Professor Bowater was awarded her MBE in 2021 for services to Research and Education in Antimicrobial Resistance. Laura was previously appointed as a Non-Executive Director representing the University of East Anglia at the James Paget University Hospital in Great Yarmouth. Laura was appointed in October 2022 and she looks forward to representing the University of Plymouth.

Nick Ball

Non Executive Director

Nick was born in Plymouth, grew up in Kingsbridge and now lives in Callington. He is a Chartered Finance Accountant and has just completed a four-year tenure as Vice Chair and Chair of Audit with Devon CCG. He has extensive experience across the south west, having previously served as Chair of Cornwall Housing, Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit Committee, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust , Director of Finance at Plymouth College of Further Education, Finance Director for South Devon College and he started his career as Assistant Director of Finance with Plymouth Health Authority.

Prof. Arunangsu Chatterjee

Non-Executive Director

Prof. Arunangsu Chatterjee joins University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) as a Non-Executive Director with a wealth of experience in digital transformation and the digital health agenda. Currently Vice Chair with West Yorkshire Integrated Care System, Prof Chatterjee brings a wealth of knowledge around transformation and change underpinned using technology. As Dean of Digital Transformation at the University of Leeds and Visiting Professor of Digital Health and Education with the University of Plymouth, he is deeply immersed in the digital health & education agenda, with strong national and international networks, and an understanding of how the sector is changing and evolving. This is particularly important as UHP embarks on its journey to implementing an electronic patient record as a key enabler for holistic local and regional health system transformation. Prof. Arunangsu Chatterjee will join the UHP Board this summer (2024).

Valerie Lee

Non Executive Director

Valerie brings extensive commercial experience from a career in a variety of functions in leading UK retailers and consumer companies including Somerfield, Debenhams, Boots and Clarks. Valerie studied Economics at Warwick University and has a post graduate Diploma with the Financial Times. Valerie has a deep understanding of consumer marketing, as well as experience in strategy development, business transformation and property management. In addition to her role at UHP, Valerie works with a number of other organisations that strive to improve the health and wellbeing of local communities across the South West. She is Chair of Circadian Trust which operates leisure centres on a not-for-profit basis and she is also Chair of Plymouth Community Homes, Plymouth's largest social housing provider with 16,000 properties providing homes to over 35,000 people across Plymouth and the surrounding areas.