Meet the Governors

Jeremy grew up in Gloucestershire, lived in Oxford during his degree and doctorate in chemistry, and has been based in Buckinghamshire for the last 25 years.

His varied career has focused on applying science and technology to real problems, focusing on areas of safety, compliance and public policy. He currently runs a manufacturers' trade association.

He has contributed to the work of organisations including government committees, charity boards and in secondary education.

Tony first became interested in health matters when the obligation to have Saturday GP surgeries was withdrawn in 2004. He wrote numerous letters of complaint at the time.

Subsequently, Tony joined various local Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) organisations, chaired a local involvement network and joined his local Patient Partnership Group (PPG), before getting involved in the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, initially as a volunteer, but subsequently as a governor for nine years and Lead Governor for the last four.

Tony is now trying, via the Neurological Alliance, to raise the profile of neurological conditions for the one in six people who have one.

His other interests include travel and scientific research.

Gemma is a solicitor specialising in family law work and has been in this role for over 10 years, receiving recognition as a Recommended and Next Generation Lawyer in the Legal 500. In addition since 2013 she has practiced as a Mediator. Gemma has a Masters in Medical Ethics and Law and was previously a Lay Plus Member of a Research Ethics Committee based at the John Radcliffe Hospital for two years. This considered applications for clinical trials, emergency waiver, paediatric medicine and tissue banks.

Since April 2018 she has been a Director of The Sunshine Centre, a charity based in Banbury which offers Early Years Care and family support services. She is Chair of the Funding Sub-Committee and member of the HR Sub-Committee. Gemma’s experience and skills in this role show that she is able to manage complex matters through an analytical approach, good communication and considered research.

Christine trained and subsequently worked within Oxford University Hospitals as a paediatric nurse in Paediatric Cardiology. She then worked within the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Oxford as a Senior Research Nurse, responsible for the management and running of studies.

Her last role was as Project Co-ordinator for newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy.

Christine has always been interested in the ethics of medical research, particularly from the perspective of patient involvement. This led her to become a member of the Oxford A Research Ethics Committee, where she has now been Vice Chair for over five years. The focus is very much on guiding researchers to keep patients centre-stage in their thinking.

As someone who has worked within the Trust, and received excellent care as a patient, she understands many of the challenges it faces in striving to deliver such care, relevant to the community it serves, and understands how important to that process it is to listen to the patient's voice.

Tony brings many years' experience operating at director level in multi-national companies responsible for large client accounts within outsourced IT in both the private and public sectors. This included working through complex business issues, business transformation, mergers and acquisitions. Tony has held, during his career, three Non-Executive (NED) positions. Tony has lived and worked in the USA and Germany being responsible for business and staff on most Continents and major regions before retiring from Hewlett Packard as Operations Director for Middle East, Africa and Mediterranean.

In public life he has recently been Mayor of Brackley and Chairman of South Northants Council.

Tony's past ten years Governor experience on both Community and Acute Trusts gives him a deep understanding of the role of Governor and need to "Hold the NED's to Account" in a team spirited manner, invaluable within complex and fast changing organisational models. Tony has been an observer at Board and Director level meetings and played the role of ‘Critical Friend’ when and where necessary.

Jane has a history in the Social Sciences and Education and has worked for Age UK Oxfordshire for the past ten years.

Jane is a Dementia Adviser within the City; in her role she works collaboratively in the community with both the Third Sector, Primary and Secondary Care.

She has supported research to improve pathways for patients within the NHS to make access and navigation of services more user-friendly. Jane welcomes the chance to support all groups of people at a higher level especially the older and more vulnerable in the city.

She is a great believer in collaborative working, is a Co-ordinator for her local Neighbourhood Watch and liaises with police and neighbours to improve the community and bring people closer together.

Ariana Adjani is a senior researcher, award-winning healthcare innovator and holder of two patents.

Educated at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and the London School of Economics, she is also a Board Director at the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, and the Co-Founder of Fine Treatment, an R&D and medtech company.

Ariana contributed to creating a novel, non-invasive medical technology, underpinned by several successful inpatient clinical trials, and the dissemination of new knowledge through scientific publications.

Ariana is an inspirational leader who strives to extend healthy life expectancy, stimulate longevity and improve quality of life for people affected by chronic health conditions.

Ariana brings her expertise in healthcare innovation and sustainable economic growth to support the creation and maintenance of high quality, inclusive and sustainable healthcare services in Oxfordshire for the benefit of patients and their families.

As an arbitrator Jonathan has participated in the process of commercial dispute resolution including medical issues. These arbitrations dealt with hospitals, their equipment, the competence of medical practitioners and the treatment of patients.

Jonathan has a unique perspective as the number one guinea pig in Professor MacLaren's successful ground-breaking gene therapy research trial at the OUH. He hopes to return a benefit by harnessing his dynamism and energy for the wonderful care and treatment that he has received from the Trust.

An experienced complex problem solver he is able to absorb large amounts of information and determine actions that should be taken. Having had a career that involved presenting cases and determining disputes he is able to represent others' views with experience and skill.

He is a Barrister of Gray's Inn and Chartered Arbitrator.

Having trained as a nurse and midwife, Janet's career was spent in health care, 28 years with the Trust. She worked in numerous roles predominantly within maternity services, before being appointed as Head of Midwifery and managing women's health across the Trust.

Janet was motivated to seek election as a governor following the negative reporting of NHS services and staffing challenges during the winters of 2015-17. She was keen to see greater collaboration between health and social care and increased use of information technology to enable seamless access to health care.

Janet is a member of the Patient Experience, Membership and Quality committee.

As a result of the staff exchange programmes between Kimberly Hospital South Africa and the OUH in 1993/4, on retirement as churchwarden Janet co- developed and continues to work with her church partnership with an urban township in South Africa.

Nina has extensive practical experience in business transformation, risk management, process optimisation in the corporate sector and more recently, in the charity sector. Her current portfolio combines a mix of non-executive and consulting roles.

She is a graduate in Economics (gold medal) and Mathematics, trained as a chartered accountant and Systems & Risk consultant at EY and PwC, and provided practical expertise for financial services regulatory reform of the Mutual Insurance services sector.

With over 15 years of experience in finance, governance, risk management, regulatory compliance and best practice, she has supported organisations through times of challenge and change, assuring stability, growth and security of asset values, income and reputation.

David is a retired Consultant and Professor of Diabetes; he served the Oxford hospitals for many years as a Consultant and Professor of Diabetes.

David has a very wide range of interests in healthcare. He conceived and led the funding campaign and building design team for the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM). David was its Founding Chairman.

David has deep interests in research, teaching and clinical care.

He is the past President of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes where he updated all the governance.

David is an elected Emeritus Fellow of Harris Manchester College and was for many years its medical tutor. He was, in turn, Vice Principal and Dean.

David is a local (lay) preacher of the Methodist Church and serves on its central Strategy and Resources Committee and Council. He is a past Chair of the Trustees of the Methodist Relief and Development Fund (now 'All We Can').

Declaration of interests: Chair of Trustees, Oxford Hospitals Charity.

Alastair grew up in Oxford and now lives in Wantage. Prior to moving back to the area, he lived in Kent, and was Lead Governor at the Medway NHS Foundation Trust, and Governor from 2016-2019.

During this time, he was Governor representative on the Board Finance Committee and Patient Safety Group and involved in many initiatives designed to further embed patient experience in the development of services. Outside of the NHS he leads a team responsible for Information Security and Vendor Risk at a US Investment Bank, with over 20 years' experience in Financial Services.

Alastair's family have been beneficiaries of wonderful care over the years from NHS hospitals in Oxfordshire, Kent and London - and the role of Governor is a fantastic opportunity to contribute something back to this amazing institution.

Robin is a 64-year-old retired local GP, who has worked in Witney, Oxford, Somerset and as an army doctor in the 1980s. Robin specialised in Respiratory Medicine, which enabled him to be on some of the NICE guidelines committees, and long-term condition lead in Somerset and Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (OCCG).

Robin has experience of being a commissioner, provider and as a patient, and has worked principally in the NHS, as well as running an independent Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) service for Somerset.

Robin has an interest in self-management and well managed joined up care. He has helped patient groups and has set some up in his previous career, and sees patient participation groups as a vital lived experience which can help shape services.

Together with an Oxford secondary school, he has released a film about Asthma in Schools.

Robin is a keen runner, fly fisherman, cook, old car enthusiast, beekeeper and gardener.

A post-doctoral scientist and entrepreneur, Graham has lived, farmed and brought up his family in West Oxfordshire over more than 35 years.

Graham is Founder and Chairman of a 23-year-old communications company, which is twice winner of the Queen's Award for Exports and employs over 370 people, so he knows how to work with people and get things done.

Graham is Chairman of Northmoor Parish Council and is proud to have received the High Sheriff's Award for Community Service.

George has been a Consultant Cardiac Surgeon since 2008 and joined the Oxford Heart Centre in July 2013.

In 2019 George was awarded the title of Honorary Professor in Cardiac Surgery, and he is affiliated with the universities of Oxford, Anglia Ruskin, Cumbria and Buckingham.

In 2016, he joined the Liga College as a Non-executive Director and was the Chairman of the Non-executive Board of Directors until May 2020.

George finished his surgical training in London, England and his fellowship in Toronto, Canada, where he sub-specialised in advanced aortic repairs and reconstructive cardiac surgery.

George's philosophy is based on providing surgical, medical and humanitarian services of the highest standards.

George believes in the development of quality health services and devotes much of his time to making sure that his patients, their relatives and the public receive what they are entitled to and deserve: effective medical and surgical care, safety, dignity and respect.

Pauline started her nursing career in in Toronto, Canada, where she studied and practised nursing in a variety of settings including palliative care, emergency care and community nursing.

During her diverse experiences, she has learned the importance of working collaboratively with individual departments, hospitals and communities so patients receive efficient safe care in a suitable and appropriate environment and setting.

Pauline is also a member of the Florence Nightingale alumni and enjoys driving change to impact patient care and health practice.

In her current role as the Endoscopy sister, she is responsible for the day to day running of the department in terms of nursing workforce, the physical environment, Infection control, Health and Safety and the Decontamination Service.

As she continues to develop her nursing professional leadership capability, she hopes to influence Trust and patient outcomes at different levels of healthcare delivery during her term as governor.

Sneha Sunny is a Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) in Acute General medicine (AGM).

Sneha qualified as a registered nurse in 2008 and worked in ITU, Cardiology and CCU. She has been deputy sister in AGM since 2017 and the night nurse practitioner for AGM since 2019. She is the elected Co-Chair for the OUH Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) Staff Network.

She strongly believes in multidisciplinary collaboration for patient safety. She works across the medical wards and collaborates with the Operations team, Divisional Nurses, Ward Managers, Matrons and the medical team on call.

She says: "I believe in speaking up and empowering ourselves in all our professions. I take pride in celebrating our varied cultures and heritage that influence the unity of professions across our Trust."

During her term as governor, she looks forward to helping to improve patient care standards and to being a voice for our nurses.

Megan started in the NHS in Oxford in 1972 and then joined Oxford's acute hospitals in 1975 covering general, clinical and resource management, strategic planning and latterly was Associate Director of Governance which included working with the CQC and two stints as Trust Board Secretary up to 2012.

In 2013/14 she was part of the team that established the Oxford Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) and was its Director of Corporate Affairs until April 2018. In addition, she was actively involved in the competitive designation of the Oxford Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC) in April 2014.

Her current role is Senior Programme Manager for the Oxford Academic Health Partners, redesignated as an AHSC in 2020. The Partnership involves the OUH, Oxford Health, Oxford Brookes, Oxford University and Oxford AHSN.

She has a particular interest in the value of research and innovation for service and quality improvement and in how innovations can improve and impact on all services – clinical and non-clinical. Megan believes that the work and contribution of the non-clinical staff is key in identifying and delivering continuing successes.

Since June 2020 Aliki has held the position of Senior Purchasing Manager at OUH.

Prior to joining OUH in 2019, she had a successful career in procurement and international trade both in Greece where she comes from, and the UK which has become her home.

Coming from a multinational background Aliki embraces diversity, recognises differences and advocates for respect. As a single parent to a child with autism, she is well aware of the challenges people may face, and streamlines her energy, knowledge and skills to overcome problems and achieve positive outcomes.

As a self-motivated, keen learner she received two Bachelor's degrees in BA (Marketing), and Political Science and International Relations from Mariupol State University, and continues to develop professionally and personally.

Professor Lorraine Dixon qualified as a Registered Nurse at the Royal London Hospital in 1988 and as an alumna of Oxford Brookes University in Advanced Healthcare Practice and Professional Education, she has had a broad ranging career within the health and care system including specialist palliative care within the independent sector, community, hospital, management, commissioning and education roles.

As a driven inclusive leader, she is passionate about improving our health and social care systems. She is committed to investing in and empowering people through education and development to enable the health and social care workforce to be a fundamental force to drive research and innovation in practice, ensuring the best use of resources and creating proactive services that promote the health and wellbeing of people in our community.

Lorraine joined Oxford Brookes University June 2023 as the Director of the Oxford School of Nursing and Midwifery. In her previous role as Head of School at University of Gloucestershire, Lorraine established the School of Health and Social Care, growing a broad portfolio of nursing, allied health professional, social work and postgraduate education.

Her interests lie in development and growth of the health and social care, service, research and workforce capability and capacity.

Stuart retired as Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust in 2020. He was previously chief executive of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) for over 13 years. Before SLaM, he was chief executive of Thameslink NHS Trust and Lewisham and Guy's Mental Health NHS Trust.

Earlier in his career he worked at Charing Cross and Whittington hospitals before moving to the South West Thames Regional Health Authority in 1990. He has also been the Head of NHS Performance in England in the NHS Executive. Stuart was instrumental in developing King's Health Partners in London - one of the academic health sciences centres with a major mental health involvement - prior to joining Oxford Health where he helped in the foundation of Oxford Academic Health Sciences Centre.

Stuart is an Honorary Fellow of King's College London and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He has until recently been Chairman of the Picker Institute (Europe).

Helen is a Consultant Anaesthetist in Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and an Associate Professor at the University of Oxford. She has always had a keen interest in medical education and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Director of Undergraduate Teaching in the Nuffield Division of Anaesthetics and Director of the Patient Safety Academy. Her research interests include SBE in healthcare and systems engineering for patient safety.

She became the medical director of the Oxford Simulation, Teaching and Research Centre (OxSTaR) when it opened in 2008 and she is the Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning (STEL) Tutor for HEE-TV. She was a founding member and past president of the UK’s Association of Simulated Practice in Healthcare and sits on the HEE steering group for STEL.

Our Young People's Executive (known as YiPpEe for short), is a group of young people aged 11-18 years who work and meet with hospital staff. YiPpEe helps us to understand what young people in hospital want and need.

YiPpEe nominate an older member of the group to sit on the Council of Governors.