Trust Board

Michael brings with him a wealth of experience of audit and financial oversight across the public sector. Until 2017 he was Chief Operating Officer of the National Audit Office. Michael has also been responsible for a number of evidence-based reports to Parliament related to the health sector, including on the financial performance and sustainability of the NHS, hospital-acquired infection, dementia, end-of-life care and autism. Since retirement, Michael has focused on his role as a trustee and honorary treasurer of Cruse, the bereavement charity.

Simon Weldon joined SECAmb as Chief Executive on 24 April 2023.

He has a wealth of leadership experience, with an NHS career spanning more than 20 years across acute and commissioning sectors.

Prior to being appointed as SECAmb Chief Executive, he was Group Chief Executive of University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Group, serving in the position from 2020 and leading the trust to university hospital status.

Prior to this position, Simon was Chief Executive of Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust where he led the organisation out of quality special measures.

Simon Bell joined SECAmb as Chief Finance Officer from 1 March 2024.

He has more than 27 years of financial leadership in the NHS, with 13 years as a Director of Finance. Before joining the Trust Simon worked in the South West and North East and Yorkshire regions of England, latterly as a Place Director of Finance with an Integrated Care Board. Prior to that Simon was the Chief Finance Officer in two different Clinical Commissioning Groups and helped lead both organisations out of financial special measures and back to delivering break-even financial plans.

Simon is responsible for the Finance, Procurement, and Estates Teams.

Richard has worked with SECAmb since 2017 when he joined the Trust as Improvement Director for NHS England. Richard was then successful at being appointed as Deputy Medical Director at SECAmb.

Richard is a GP and was previously Medical Director at Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust. He has a passion for delivering high-quality patient care and supporting staff in the challenging environment of 111 and 999.

Jennifer Allan joined SECAmb in October 2024, bringing extensive leadership experience from her role as Chief Operating Officer at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

Prior to working at SWLSG, Jennifer was Director of Operations at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust where she led operationally on the Trust’s adult surgical services. At Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust she led the delivery of district nursing, rapid response and rehabilitation services.

With a strong background in operational leadership, Jennifer is focused on improving patient care and supporting SECAmb’s strategic development across its region.

Sarah joined SECAmb in April 2024 as Interim Director of HR & OD.

Prior to joining the Trust, Sarah was Regional Deputy Director of Workforce at NHS England (South East), with strategic leadership for the workforce transformation and workforce supply across integrated care systems in South East. Sarah has over 20 years’ experience in senior HR roles both within the Civil Service and the NHS. Sarah is an experienced system leader, delivering people and culture change programmes at both system and organisational level, and is passionate about people development and how we best support staff wellbeing & experience at work to enable better patient care.

Originally from Barcelona and an aeronautical engineer by training, David now lives in Kent and joins SECAmb after a decade of working in the aviation industry. With a focus on operations planning and management, logistics and improvement, David has worked across airlines and air handing operators in Spain and most recently at London City Airport since 2014 where he was previously Director of Operations Strategy and Planning. This role saw him work in a number of key areas including developing forecasting and modelling capability within the airport and delivering a number of improvement initiatives using technology and process changes to increase capacity.

Margaret is a paediatric  nurse and leader who has worked in the NHS for 40 years with extensive experience in senior operational and professional leadership roles across all healthcare systems and sectors including acute, community & mental health providers.

Jaqualine is SECAmb’s first-ever Chief Paramedic Officer. With more than two decades of experience in ambulance services, Jaqualine has a wealth of clinical expertise and leadership. Prior to joining SECAmb she was Director of Quality Improvement at London Ambulance Service and has held various clinical roles since becoming an ambulance technician in 2000 and qualifying as a paramedic in 2003.

Jaqualine has been instrumental in advancing paramedic practice, leading the introduction of advanced paramedic practitioners in urgent care, and serving on national clinical guidance committees. At SECAmb she will oversee education, training, and clinical supervision, working across the organisation to enhance patient care.

Stephen joined SECAmb on secondment on 1 May 2024.

He studied Computer Science and Technology from 1983-1986. He is an International Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO), a Fellow of the British Computer Society, and a Leading Practitioner of the Federation of Information Practitioners.

Stephen is the Chair of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) Digital Group and has worked within healthcare for a large proportion of his career in healthcare technology at East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST), GE Healthcare, Agfa Healthcare, Smiths Healthcare (now ICU Health) and BT Health.

Stephen is joining us on secondment from East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust where he is currently the CDIO and SRO for Digital Transformation at EEAST has held senior leadership positions in IT and Informatics within Operations, Program Delivery, Strategy, Commercial and Contract functions.

Howard has been a member of SECAmb since 2014. Formerly working as Chief Financial Officer for Southern Water with frontline staff and some emergency response. He has also worked in senior Finance positions for various large utility organisations including the energy business, Eon UK  and also a UK transport business, part of RATP, which included running bus services in London with c.3,000 employees. Howard was instrumental in leading the transformation of Southern Water to become more commercial and efficient without compromising quality of service.

Howard brings strong financial and commercial experience including input into bids, contract negotiations, competitor analysis and industry benchmarking and believes that his experience can help the Trust on its journey to become ‘outstanding’.

Subo has a varied career in complex education, clinical and regulatory executive roles and has held several non-executive roles.

She brings extensive knowledge and experience of strategic business change, organisational development, education and training and transformation programmes to deliver commercial revenue, gained in both the charitable and public sectors. Her PhD is in Clinical Immunovirology from Imperial College London.

Paul, from Bexhill, East Sussex, has more than 25 years’ board-level experience, most recently as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. He has spent more than a decade as a CIO in local authorities and has also worked with numerous ‘blue chip’ companies in the private sector.

Paul joins SECAmb to provide scrutiny and support in the important and growing area of strategic digital and IT development.

A registered nurse by background, Liz Sharp has more than 30-years’ background in both the public and private health sectors. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge in delivering and improving patient outcomes and experience.

Until 2018, Liz was the National Director of Clinical Services for BMI Healthcare, an independent provider running 54 hospitals. Her executive career includes her working in partnership with the clinical education team to develop an in-house associate practitioner programme, enhancing governance through introducing an electronic risk-based reporting system for staff, and leading large-scale change programmes including building a care and rehabilitation centre and developing clinical strategy.

An experienced non-executive, she remains a Trustee of the Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People and is both Chair of its Care, Quality and Safety Committee and the Board’s Safeguarding Lead.

Max Puller holds the position of Group Director, Business Strategy and Communications at FTSE 250 listed, global IT and technology services provider, Computacenter. Prior to joining Computacenter in February 2024, Max was Business Transformation Director at global communications consultancy, BCW, where he specialised in organisational change and employee experience.

Max’s background includes previous positions such as Head of Colleague Communications and Engagement at Tesco Bank, Employee and Change Communications Director at Sodexo, and Chief Communications Officer at the UK Ministry of Defence. Before joining SECAmb, he served on the Board of the Salvation Army in the UK and Ireland, providing counsel on reputation, marketing, and fundraising matters.

Professor Mojgan Sani began a three-year term on 1 June 2024 and has a has a professional background as a Chief Pharmacist, Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer, and Director of Medicines Optimisation in large, complex multi-site NHS acute hospitals.

Her recent positions have included serving as Corporate Director of Clinical Outcomes and Effectiveness at University Hospitals Sussex. She has also served as a trustee to the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD), and as a Public Governor to Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust – a large mental health trust.

Mojgan is the South-East South-Central Chair of the National Quality Improvement and Clinical Audit Network (NQICAN), a visiting professor at a number of universities for Medicines Optimisation and Clinical Pharmacy, and a non-executive director for HIOW ICB and Medway NHS Foundation Trust.

A nurse by background, Karen has worked in healthcare for 45 years in both the public and private sectors in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Gibraltar.

She has 20 years’ experience as an Executive Director at board level, as Gibraltar’s Chief Nursing Officer, including responsibilities as Director of Gibraltar Ambulance Services, (2004-2013) and as Director of Nursing and Clinical Governance at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (1993-2004).

She has also worked as a management and leadership consultant and was a former reviewer for the Commission for Health Improvement.

Karen currently remains a Senior Independent Non-Executive Director at Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, East Grinstead. She also serves as a Visiting Professor to the Doctorate in Management Programme at the University of Hertfordshire, and is also a Visiting Professor at the School of Nursing, Allied and Public Health Faculty of Health, Science, Social Care and Education at Kingston University, London.