Our Board

Dame Jo joined the board in November 2016 as a Non-Executive Director and was appointed as Chair, succeeding Sir David Henshaw, in February 2019 and was reappointed by the Governors for a second three-year term to February 2025.

She has enjoyed a successful 30-year career in social services in the North West, including ten years at a director level, before becoming Chief Executive of the Royal Mencap Society for five years. Dame Jo joined the Care Quality Commission as a Non-Executive Director in 2008 and held the position of Chair between 2010 and 2013. In addition, Dame Jo has had considerable experience as a trustee in the voluntary sector, including with the NSPCC.

Over the last decade, she has been involved in shaping public policy on a number of issues including in her role as chair of the National Advisory Council on Children’s Psychological Wellbeing and Mental Health and as part of the team that developed the National Service Framework for Children. She was also co-chair of the national working group that led to standards in hospital care for children following the enquiry at Bristol Royal Infirmary.

Dame Jo has received a number of honours in recognition of her achievements, including a CBE for services to Social Services in Cheshire and as President of the Association of Directors of Social Services and a DBE for her work with people with a learning disability.

John joined Alder Hey in April 2017 as Director of Finance and Deputy Chief Executive and took on the role of Managing Director and Chief Finance Officer in April 2023. His NHS career began via the National Finance Graduate Trainee scheme and he has worked in a variety of roles, including the Deputy Director of Performance at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, and Deputy Director of Finance at South Manchester University Hospital.

He joined The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation (RJAH) Trust in Oswestry as Director of Finance in 2008 and played a key role in supporting the organisation’s successful Foundation Trust application. He also worked with the Strategic Orthopaedic Alliance (SOA) to ensure that the voice of specialist orthopaedic providers is heard within the national financial agenda.

John became Acting Chief Executive at RJAH in October 2015 until taking up the position of Deputy Chief Executive on 1 April 2016. This was the role in which he remained until joining Alder Hey a year later. In 2019 John won two Finance Director of Year Awards; The Finance Director of a Non-Profit Large Organisation (over £100m) award and he was the overall winner of the Finance Director of the Year Award.

Erica joined the Alder Hey Board in September 2010 as Director of Corporate Affairs. She began her NHS career in 1991 through its national Graduate Management Training Scheme. Erica spent over ten years working in primary care and commissioning roles at regional level and within Liverpool and North Cheshire, before moving to the acute sector in 2003.

Prior to coming to Alder Hey, Erica was Director of Corporate Affairs at the Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust where she directed the successful application to become the first foundation trust in Merseyside. Part of her job includes the role of Trust Secretary, advising and supporting the Chair, Board of Directors and Council of Governors on all aspects of assurance, regulation, compliance and corporate governance. Erica also has Executive responsibility for legal matters.  Erica holds an MBA as well as a BA (Hons) degree from the University of Liverpool.

Nathan joined Alder Hey in November 2020 as the Chief Nursing Officer providing professional leadership to nurses and Allied Health Professionals across the organisation. Nathan qualified as a registered children’s nurse in 2003 from the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing, King’s College London. Nathan has worked in various clinical and managerial roles including time at Guys and St. Thomas, Great Ormond Street Hospital and as Director of Nursing at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust.

In addition to his professional qualifications Nathan holds an MSc in advanced nursing practice and has led system wide change for children’s services in North West London and more widely across the capital. Nathan has a passion for ensuring all children and young people get high quality, safe care in both physical and mental health and for championing the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda. He is the current chair of the Association of Chief Children’s Nurses working to advocate for children and young people at a national level.

John Chester has been Alder Hey’s Director of Research and Innovation since July 2021 and more recently its Chief Scientific Officer. His previous experience includes 20 years as a Clinical Academic in adult oncology.

Following a first degree in Biochemistry at Oxford University and a PhD in Molecular Biology at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, John studied medicine at Saint Mary’s Hospital Medical School, a part of Imperial College, London. Building on his background in both laboratory science and innovative clinical trial designs, John was appointed as Clinical Professor in Cardiff in 2011 where he built a national and international profile, including serving as inaugural Director of the Wales Cancer Research Centre. Over the last 10 years, he has increasingly focused on strategic research leadership.

John leads in advancing Alder Hey’s unique position at the interface between NHS and academic paediatrics. He has recently focused on a major new strategic initiative, Alder Hey Futures. This is dedicated to building internal infrastructure and multi-agency external partnerships which promote healthier, happier and fairer futures for children and young people, their families and communities.

Melissa is our Chief People Officer and joined Alder Hey in 2009. Following her graduation from the University of Liverpool, Melissa started her HR & OD career in the airline industry before joining the NHS, working in HR and OD roles in London and the Northwest before joining Alder Hey.

A Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, Melissa leads the people agenda at Alder Hey and is passionate about making Alder Hey a great place to work for everyone, with significant focus on leadership and talent development, equality, diversity and inclusion, staff engagement and health and wellbeing. Melissa has championed the development of the award winning Alder Hey Staff Advice and Liaison Service (SALS), winner of both the national HSJ Staff Engagement Award in 2020, and the HPMA award for Excellence in Staff Engagement in 2021.

Kate is the Chief Digital and Transformation Officer at Alder Hey (2019) and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital (2020). Kate began her NHS career in 2000 and has had a range of digital leadership roles in primary care, commissioning, shared services and acute care across Liverpool and the wider Northwest region.

Kate is passionate about the NHS and the impact digital technology and innovation can make on improved clinical outcomes and the delivery of high quality, safe patient care. Kate is a music graduate from the University of Liverpool and holds a MSC in Health Informatics. She is the Chair of the Maghull Wind Orchestra where she is also principal flautist and saxophonist with the Phil Shotton Big Band.

David joined Alder Hey as Development Director in December 2012 and has over 30 years of experience working in the NHS. Prior to his role at Alder Hey, David held Development Director posts in Bristol and London overseeing new hospital programmes. David has a history degree from Manchester University and is a qualified accountant.

Kerry joined the Alder Hey Board in September 2018 and was reappointed by the Governors for a second three-year term to September 2024. She is a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a finance, risk and internal control leader with over 24 years’ experience in “Big 4” professional services and as a Non-Executive Director covering governance, finance, risk management and internal control Kerry is Chairman of our Audit & Risk Committee and a member of our Safety & Quality Assurance Committee. Kerry is the Trust’s NED lead for Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response and Freedom to Speak Up.

She was a Senior Manager at Deloitte for 11 years where she provided internal audit services to numerous organisations and industries both in the private and public sectors. She then spent 3 years as Head of Internal Audit at Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd followed by 3 years as the Director of Retail Banking, Internal Audit at Ernst & Young. Kerry spent 9 years as a Non-Executive Director at Liverpool John Moores University where she was Chairman of the Finance Committee, and a member of the Nominations and Remuneration Committees and Chairman’s Group and also served on the Audit Committee.

She is currently a Non-Executive Director for South Lakes Housing in Cumbria where she is a member of the Audit & Risk Committee. Since leaving EY she has been managing her own portfolio of 10 rental properties in the Northwest.

Shalni was appointed to the Board in August 2019. Shalni is CEO of Savannah Wisdom, a private family charitable foundation.  She is a qualified accountant trained at Arthur Andersen and an entrepreneur. She is one of the founders of DxS Limited, a personalised medicine business which she spun out from AstraZeneca and then successfully exited. She works for a number of charities and not for profit organisations through her own foundation and is on the Board of the British Asia Trust, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Charity, Belong-The Cohesion and Integration Network and is a member of the Network for Social Change.

She recently won a Beacon Award for Philanthropy and has a Masters in Genetics from Cambridge and a Masters in International Development.

Shalni is also a Council Member for the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

Garth joined Alder Hey as a Non-Executive Director in November 2021. He is highly respected for his Legal, Business Consulting and Diversity and Inclusion expertise and has a passion for helping businesses develop strategies that focus on making a positive impact on people, places, and the planet, across multiple industries.

For over 28 years he has been involved in the research, strategy, design, implementation and management of innovative and cutting-edge strategic business and diverse community projects based on the relationship between diversity and equality of opportunities legislation, diversity best practice, and importantly, sustainable business practices as a force for good in the 21st century global marketplace.

With extensive experience in business, legal and community support, his prominent expertise is providing innovative methods to manage governance, compliance and business strategies whilst keeping efficient financial management. These projects have been designed and involved the allocation and management of culturally sensitive and diverse resources, stakeholders and challenging outcomes. This is further complimented by qualified, fully practised legal specialisations in Equality and Employment Law.

He is Chair of the Liverpool Commonwealth Association and has recently founded the Good Small Business Awards, the UK’s first Business Sustainability Awards exclusively for small and micro businesses, Recognising Excellence in Small Business Social and Environmental Impact and Business Sustainability.

Overall, he has developed a strong career as a Director, Non-Executive Director, Diversity and Inclusion Specialist, Business Sustainability Consultant and Business Community Engagement Ambassador. He brings his external skills to challenge, support and develop the Trust’s strategy and to ensure that the Board acts in the best interests of children, young people and their families and the wider community.

ohn was appointed to the Board in September 2022. A qualified Chartered Accountant, John holds long-standing experience of working with some of the world’s leading companies.

He was a senior partner at KPMG and a member of the Liverpool Vision Board. He has worked on strategic change and transformation programmes in a wide range of industries including consumer and retail, healthcare and life sciences and financial services.