Trust Board Profiles

Melloney Poole OBE, Trust Chair

Melloney joined the Isle of Wight NHS Trust on 5 October 2020. She is also Chair of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust which she joined in May 2017 and was appointed Chair on 1 November 2017.

Since June 2015, she has been the head of the Armed Forces Covenant Fund and the other grant programmes funded by LIBOR (London Inter-bank Offered Rate) fines which directly supports the delivery of the Armed Forces Covenant across the UK.

Melloney is a corporate, charity and administrative law solicitor with 25 years of private sector commercial and corporate experience before becoming the head of the legal department for the Big Lottery Fund in 2013. She developed the combined legal service department which now supports all the legal and governance matters for the Arts Council England, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund.

In addition, Melloney had had a parallel career as a Non-Executive Director in the NHS, serving on the boards of 3 NHS trusts, and as the Vice Chair of the Health Foundation.

She has also been a volunteer and fundraiser for various charities and a magistrate on the Preston Bench. Melloney was awarded an OBE in the 2010 New Year Honours for legal and governance services.
 

Debbie Beaven, Non-Executive Director
 

Debbie joined the Trust as a Non-Executive Director in January 2022. She is a qualified accountant and an experienced senior executive and board director. Debbie joins us as we launch the next phase of our financial improvement journey on our drive to financial sustainability. Experience in financial leadership roles across different market sectors, business models and structures as well as leading change programmes and improving performance outcomes are all skills and experience that we welcome to the Board.  She is a Non-Executive Director of Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust from January 2023.
 

Dr Christopher Tibbs, Non-Executive Director

Christopher joined the Trust as a Non-Executive Director in January 2022. He brings a long history of clinical practice and clinical leadership to the Trust having previously been a Deputy Chief Executive and Medical Director. He also brings not only extensive clinical and managerial experience but also recent experience as a CQC inspection chair and he now works in the Regional and National Commissioning team and Regional Medical Directorate. Christopher also has long and strong links to the Island having had a home here for a number of years.
 

 Dr Tim Peachey, Non-Executive Director

Tim joined the Trust as a Non-Executive Director in April 2018.  He qualified as a doctor in 1983 and worked as a consultant anaesthetist.  Tim has held medical management roles at all levels in a number of acute hospital Trusts including as Medical Director of the Royal free Hospital, and Chief Executive of Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals. Tim has also worked as an Improvement Director helping NHS Trusts and a Non-Executive Director of University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
 

Inga Kennedy CBE, Non-Executive Director

Inga joined the Trust on 1 April 2022 as a Non-Executive Director.  She has had a life-long career in healthcare, combining time in the NHS with service in the Royal Navy. Born in Aberdeen, she studied nursing at Queen Margaret College in Edinburgh followed by postgraduate studies in Edinburgh and London. A registered nurse, midwife and lecturer, she worked in the National Health Service between 1980 and 1998. Having joined the Royal Navy Reserve in 1987, she undertook full-time reserve service between 1998 and 2000 as a senior midwife in the Royal Naval Hospital Gibraltar. In 2000, she joined the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS). After being promoted to Commander in 2005, she served in Afghanistan in 2011 and was made Captain in November of that year. She was promoted to Commodore in 2015 and began serving as Inspector General of the Defence Medical Services the same year. In 2017, Commodore Kennedy was appointed Head of the Royal Navy Medical Service, a position she relinquished only recently. Currently, Inga is still a registered and validated nurse and undertakes a portfolio of work focusing on healthcare. She is a Non-Executive Director with Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust.  She is also a Trustee of an Independent Hospital in London and Trustee of the White Ensign Association.  

Phil Berrington, Non-Executive Director

Phil joined the Trust as an Associate Non-Executive Director in January 2019 and was made a Non-Executive Director in January 2022. He is also an Executive Partner in IBM Consulting and leads accounts where clients are undergoing large and complex transformation journeys. In his consulting work Phil has experience of working in the public sector, notably with a large central government department helping them transform back-office functions and processes. He currently leads IBM’s relationship with a quasi-public sector organisation. Phil is a Chartered Management Accountant (FCMA), a Chartered Management Consultant, and holds a post graduate diploma in Strategy & Innovation from Said Business School.  He has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director with Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust from February 2023.

Sara Weech, Non-Executive Director

Sara joined the Trust as an Associate Non-Executive Director in January 2018 and was made a Non-Executive Director in January 2023.She is an experienced public sector executive director having spent 25 years working in complex health and social care systems including East and West Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.  Sara has worked for both local authority and NHS organisations and since 2013 has been Trustee and Chair of Earl Mountbatten Hospice.  

Christine Slaymaker, Non-Executive Director

Penny Emerit, Chief Executive

Penny joined our Trust as Chief Executive on 1 June 2023. Penny is an experienced and highly capable NHS leader and is also the Chief Executive Officer at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU), a role which she has held since March 2021.

Penny joined PHU in January 2018 as Director of Strategy and Performance and later added the Deputy Chief Executive portfolio to her responsibilities prior to taking on the CEO role.

As CEO, Penny led PHU to a second CQC Good rating in July 2022 following a well-led inspection and core service inspection of medicine and urgent care services. She also led the development of the Trust’s ‘Working Together’ strategy. 

Penny has almost twenty years of experience in healthcare at national, regional and local levels, covering policy, regulation and service delivery with a credible track record of delivery across the NHS in London and the South. Her expertise in strategy development and implementation alongside regulation and performance improvement drives her passion and commitment to delivering sustainable improvement for the benefit of patients, communities and staff. 

Steve Parker, Medical Director

Steve joined the Trust in January 2015 as a Consultant General Surgeon who specialised in Breast and General Paediatric Surgery.

During his time at the Trust, he has held a number of clinical leadership roles and was appointed as the Medical Director in November 2020.

Prior to relocating to the island,  he was a consultant at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Hospitals NHS Trust  and also served in the Royal Navy for 16 years, including 4 years in the submarine service.  Steve has provided clinical leadership to a number of transformation projects and is committed to the delivery of safe and effective clinically-led services.

Juliet Pearce, Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions

Juliet joined the Trust in October 2021. Previously Juliet was the Deputy Chief Nursing Officer at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and has extensive NHS leadership experience. Juliet is a senior registered nursing professional with a Masters degree in Management and Leadership in Health and Social Care. Throughout her career she has held governance, safety and transformation roles.

 Jane Cole, Director of Finance 

Jane joined the Trust in June 2023 from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB where she was Director of Finance, Operations and Systems.  Jane began her NHS career on the Island in 1993 and has extensive experience within NHS finance having held senior positions across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight within the provider, commissioner and regulator sectors during the span of her career.  Jane is a Fellow Chartered and Certified Accountant (FCCA) and is a strong advocate of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) having previously been Chair of the HFMA Commissioning Steering Group.

Julie Pennycook, Director of People and Organisational Development

Julie Pennycook is the Director of People and Organisational Development and was appointed in September 2017. Julie has over 25 years experience as an Human Resources (HR) professional working in both private and public healthcare sectors. She joined the NHS in 2003 and prior to joining the Isle of Wight NHS Trust held the position of Director of HR & OD at Solent NHS Trust. Julie leads a multi-disciplinary team which includes human resource management, organisational development, recruitment and resourcing, workforce information and systems, learning and development and occupational health and wellbeing. Julie is CIPD qualified and has a Masters in Human Capital Management.
 

Nikki Turner, Director of Strategy, Partnerships and Digital

Nikki has worked in the NHS for 20 years and started her career on the Isle of Wight in 1998 as a Project Manager. She since undertook several roles within the Trust covering service and system transformation, and led operational areas across acute and community services including the Deputy Chief Operating Officer before being successfully appointed at the Director of Acute Services in May 2018. During her time working within the public services she has also worked for Portsmouth & SE Hampshire Health Authority, the Isle of Wight Council and for the Isle of Wight Primary Care Trust. Nikki leads the multidisciplinary acute services delivering care on the St Mary’s Hospital site.  She has a doctorate and is a Prince 2 practitioner in programme management.
 

Lesley Stevens, Director of Community, Mental Health and Learning Disabilities

Lesley joined the Trust Board in July 2018, originally as the Director of Mental Health and Learning Disabilities, and since 2021 she has also been the Director of Community services. Lesley became a consultant psychiatrist in 1999, and has 15 years’ experience in of senior leadership roles in mental health, learning disability and community services. She is a Health Foundation QI Fellow, and is committed to working alongside people who use and work in our services, and our partners, to provide high quality integrated care that wraps around the needs of individuals.
 

Joe Smyth, Chief Operating Officer (Acute and Ambulance) and Director of Estates

Joe joined the Trust in October 2019, in his previous role he worked with 8 CCG’s and 4 acute Trusts to develop an acute clinical site strategy for North West London. Prior to that, Joe was the Chief Operating Officer at Hillingdon Hospitals for seven years and led on the creation of their Integrated Care Partnership. He was also the Director of Service Improvement at Epsom and St Helier in South London and spent 3 years at the Royal Bournemouth NHS Trust as their Deputy COO where he led the reconfiguration of their hospital sites.

 

Kirk Millis-Ward, Director of Communications and Engagement

Kirk was appointed to lead Communications and Engagement for Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Isle of Wight Council in May 2019.

Kirk has worked in a range of senior communications roles for national and local NHS organisations, most recently as Head of News for NHS Improvement and Head of Communications and Engagement for Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust. Having originally trained as a physiotherapist, Kirk went on to study and work in journalism writing for a number of national, regional and local news publications. Follow Kirk @KirkWard_NHS