Meet the board

The Trust Board is accountable for setting the strategic direction of the Trust. As we have moved into a Group arrangement between Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) and United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT), we now have a Group Trust Board, which meets bi-monthly in public. This Board undertakes the business of both organisations. For details of Trust Board members, please see below:

Elaine Baylis

Group Chair

Elaine has over 30 years’ experience working in the public sector in Lincolnshire. With a background in policing, her career in the force culminated in the role of assistant chief constable with accountability for service delivery. She worked extensively with communities, enabling active influence of local policing, reducing crime and disorder and ensuring services considered safeguarding vulnerable members of the community. An experienced strategic commander with particular interest in responding to emergencies, in 2005 Elaine was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for distinguished service. Elaine was previously a director and trustee of Urban Challenge Lincoln, an organisation that delivers a range of services to the community and voluntary sector, and since 2005 has held a similar post at Lincolnshire Action Trust, an organisation that aims to improve the skills and employability of offenders and prisoners. She was also the independent chair of the Lincolnshire Adults Safeguarding Board from 2012 to 2016 and was also chair of LCHS from April 2015 until March 2023.

Professor Karen Dunderdale

Group Chief Executive

Karen became substantive Group Chief Executive Officer for Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group on Monday 1 July 2024. She has held board level roles as a Chief Nurse, Chief Operating Officer, Deputy CEO and acting CEO. In addition, she held the role of vice chair of her local hospice for a number of years. Karen qualified as a registered nurse in 1991 and her clinical experience has been in cardiology. She became a cardiac nurse specialist developing cardiac rehabilitation and heart failure services. She has a PhD in Health Related Quality of Life in Chronic Heart Failure from York University, has contributed substantially to the development of cardiac nursing, and raised expectations nationally within the nursing profession. In 2017 Karen joined the National nursing team at NHS Improvement working for Dr Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England contributing to the wider nursing and patient experience agenda. Karen is passionate about delivering high quality fundamental nursing care.

Dr Colin Farquharson

Group Chief Medical Officer

Dr Farquharson trained at the University of Dundee, then undertook general medical training in Tayside, followed by a period of research sponsored by the British Heart Foundation. He then progressed with advanced training in Cardiology in Yorkshire, as well as at Harefield Hospital (UK), Los Angeles (USA) and Adelaide / Melbourne (Australia). He achieved Completion of UK Specialist Training (CCST) in Cardiology/General (Internal) Medicine in June 2005. He worked as a Consultant Cardiologist at the Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby, between 2005-2012, concurrently holding the honorary academic post of Senior Lecturer at Hull-York Medical School. He then took up the post of Senior Staff Cardiologist/Professor of Cardiology at Royal Darwin Hospital, Australia between 2012-2015. He returned to North East Lincolnshire in 2016, as a Consultant Cardiologist and the Deputy Medical Director of Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust before joining the team at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust. Dr Farquharson is also a Royal College of Pathologists accredited Medical Examiner.

Daren Fradgley

Group Chief Integration Officer

Kathryn Helley

Group Chief Clinical Governance Officer

Having worked in the NHS for 34 years, Kathryn has 25 years experience of leading clinical and corporate governance, large scale change and improvement at a senior level in the NHS. She has experience of working across acute, community, mental health and commissioning. As a resident of Lincolnshire, Kathryn is passionate about delivering high quality, safe care for patients within the county. She joined ULHT in November 2020 as Deputy Director of Clinical Governance before moving into the role of Director of Clinical Governance.

Caroline Landon

Group Chief Operating Officer

Claire Low

Group Chief People Officer

Claire joined the Trust in December 2021 as a Deputy Director of People and Organisational Development and starting work in the director position in October 2022.  She has a long career spanning over 20 years of working in people services within the NHS and acute trusts and has worked in operational HR, recruitment, transformational projects and deputy director roles, and more recently acted as Director of People at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust for a period of two years. Claire is passionate about the people agenda and investment in training and development of staff, she graduated from her part-time MBA last year which she completed under the apprenticeship scheme at her previous Trust.  Claire is also a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and is looking forward to embedding a ‘just and learning’ culture at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust as part of the transformation agenda for the People Directorate.

Nerea Odongo

Group Chief Nurse

Nerea has a wealth of experience, having worked in the NHS for 20 years. She joined the Group from Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust, where she served as Chief Nurse. Nerea’s background has been in critical care, and she then practised as an Advanced Critical Care Outreach Practitioner before embarking on her nursing leadership journey. Nerea’s focus has always been to drive improvements in quality, safety and experience for patients and their families. She is also very passionate about professional development, developing clinical leaders and championing sustainable health. She has driven forward leadership development programmes that contribute to equality, diversity and inclusion and promote career development. One of Nerea’s achievements includes leading Northampton General Hospital to become the first organisation in Europe to achieve Pathway to Excellence re-accreditation. This demonstrates her dedication to driving NMAHP’s excellence and creating positive working environments.

Mike Parkhill

Interim Group Chief Estates and Facilities Officer

Jon Young

Director of Finance (ULHT)

Professor Philip Baker

Non-Executive Director

Philip brings experience of multiple roles in healthcare across the globe. He trained as an obstetrician in Nottingham, Cambridge and Pittsburgh, before becoming Professor of Obstetrics in Nottingham and then Manchester. He led the successful bid for the NIHR Research Biomedical Research Centre in Manchester, and was head of the medical schools in Manchester and Edmonton, Canada. He was appointed by the Chinese Government as a National Distinguished Professor and continues to direct a pregnancy research centre in Chongqing, China; from 2012-15, he directed the National Centre of Growth and Development in New Zealand. In 2015, Philip returned to the UK as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Head of the College of Life Sciences, and Dean of Medicine at the University of Leicester (he is now Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research & Enterprise). In addition to having worked in the NHS as a consultant obstetrician, Philip has previously been a non-executive director of NHS Direct, and of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

Rebecca Brown

Non-Executive Director

Dani Cecchini

Non-Executive Director

Until March 2021, Danielle was the Finance Director and Deputy Chief Executive at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust. Her previous roles include Director of Finance at Lincolnshire Community Health Services Trust - which has given her some insight into the Lincolnshire system challenges and opportunities. Previous roles have also included working within various NHS regulators – including former SHA, TDA and NHSI as well as within commissioning organisations. In the 1990s, Danielle qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant having been trained initially at British Gas and Joined the NHS in 1992. Danielle chairs the Finance Performance and Estates Committee and is a co-opted member of the Audit Committee.

Neil Herbert

Non-Executive Director

Neil is an experienced senior finance and people leader who has led international teams as a Chief Financial Officer, Chief People Officer and Chief D&I Officer. He has a strong financial services/fintech background and is an experienced Board member as both an executive and non-executive Director. Neil’s expertise has been recognised through several professional awards, including winning Director of Finance’s ‘Global CFO of the Year’ in 2015, ‘Global Finance Team of the Year’ in 2016 and Finance Director’s ‘Blue Chip Finance Team of the Year’ in 2016. Neil’s passion for developing people has also led him to train and practice as an executive coach. Neil has lived in Lincolnshire for over 25 years and is also a Board Member at the University of Lincoln where he chairs the Audit Committee, having previously chaired the Remuneration Committee.

Sarah Buik

Associate Non-Executive Director

Sarah had a corporate career, based in the UK and overseas. She led the strategic development functions for FTSE 250 and ASX-listed companies after progressing through a range of senior commercial and marketing roles. She has worked collaboratively with executive teams and external partners to design and implement major transformational change. This includes experience contributing to the delivery of digital & data, cost improvement, service development and organisational redesign programmes. Sarah has lived in Lincolnshire since 2017 and is a Trustee and Non-Executive Director in the charity sector within the county. Sarah holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration and a Professional Diploma in Marketing. She joined the Trust Board in August 2022 as an Associate Non-Executive Director.

Ian Orrell

Associate Non-Executive Director

Ian has a wealth of experience in the public sector, particularly with large and complex councils. He has experience of working within senior corporate leadership teams to help reshape and deliver quality frontline adult and children social care services, as well as delivering professional support services. Ian also has over 30 years as a qualified accountant and previous experience in non-executive roles where partnership approaches were taken to improve service provision.

Vicki Wells

Associate Non-Executive Director

Vicki was born and educated in Lincolnshire and returned in 2002 after qualifying as a registered nurse and then working in various clinical roles for 15 years in Leicestershire. She then went on to have an extensive career in health and social care regulation with regional and national roles, working latterly as a Deputy Chief Inspector. Vicki has successfully delivered major regulatory programmes resulting in improved outcomes for people who use services. Vicki is a Trustee in the Charity Sector and is a Panel Chair of the Fitness to Practice Committee for the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Vicki holds a Masters Degree in Policy, Organisation and Change in Professional Care, is a Neuro Linguistics Programming Practitioner and a Coach. She joined the Trust Board in August 2022 as an Associate Non-Executive Director.