Our Board is made up of:

• Chair
• Chief Executive
• Executive Directors
• Non-Executive Directors.

The Board of Directors is the principal decision making body of our organisation.

Some of the decisions made by our Board of Directors have to be approved by others before they can be out into practice. This sometimes includes our Council of Governors and commissioners.

The Chief Executive and Executive Directors are full time staff employed directly by us.

The Chair and Non-Executive Directors are independent people drawn from the local community who share their:

• unique insights
• varied experience
• public and private sector perspective
• talents developed in other sectors and industries with us.

Diversity Pledge

We believe people and the organisation work best when equality and diversity are truly valued and promoted within the Trust’s culture and leadership.  To us these principles are more than just 'a nice idea'. They are fundamental and they help us be better.

By signing the pledge we vow to actively work towards creating a Board and senior leadership team. This reflects the diversity of the people we work with.

We will regularly review our policies, processes and behaviours to make certain that they demonstrate and support this commitment.  In particular, we will examine our recruitment practices and those of organisations we work with in recruiting. This ensures the pipeline to leadership overcomes:

• barriers of discrimination
• unfairness
• inequality.

We commit to growing talent, supporting them to progress and reach the very top of our organisation.

Useful links

• Board of Directors' meetings
• Declaration of Interests for the Board of Directors
• Directors’ Responsibilities and Code of Conduct. This document needs to be printed and signed.

Chair and Executive Directors

Chair: Kevin Lockyer

• Appointed as Chair on 1 May 2021.

• Kevin has spent more than 30 years working:

  • as a prison governor
  • as a commissioner of offender management services in custody and in the community
  • as a senior civil servant and at board level in the public and voluntary sectors.
     

• He has held non-executive roles in the NHS in Lincolnshire for nearly six years.

• He also works as an independent consultant, providing expert support to organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors. He specialises in:

  • service development

  • bid management 

  • change management

  • strategy development

  • mentoring/coaching.

Chief Executive: Sarah Connery

• ​​​Appointed Acting Chief Executive in October 2020 and made substantive appointment in September 2021.

• Joined the Trust as Deputy Director of Finance in April 2015.

• Has worked in the NHS for 21 years in various senior finance roles.

• Has wide business management experience from working in the retail and audit sectors.

Director of Nursing and Quality: Sharon Harvey

• Rejoined the Trust in February 2023.
• A dual registered mental health and learning disability nurse.
• Previous role was the head of Improving Quality in the national Learning Disability and Autism Team at NHS England/Improvement.
• Formerly Deputy Director of Nursing at LPFT back in 2020.

Director of Finance, Digital and Estates: Mark Platts

• Appointed as Acting Director of Finance and Information in October 2020 and made substantive appointment in November 2021.
• Joined the Trust in December 2009.
• Has worked for the NHS in Lincolnshire for 15 years, joining as a national graduate trainee.

Medical Director: Dr Girish Kunigiri 

• Appointed Medical Director in October 2022
• Experienced Consultant Psychiatrist having worked in Leicester for 18 years.
• Has held numerous medical management positions including Clinical Director, Deputy Medical Director and Acting Medical Director.
• Also Clinical Director for East Midlands Mental Health Clinical Network and Clinical Advisor for the Midlands Clinical Senate

Director of People: Amy Beeton

• Appointed to Director role in November 2022.
• Previously Deputy Director of People for LPFT.

• Has almost 20 years NHS experience, working in senior level roles for over 10 years.

• Experienced People Professional & Qualified Professional Coach having worked predominantly in Provider organisations, including ULHT for 12 plus years.

• Has worked at Health Education England leading on Workforce Transformation initiatives at both an Integrated Care System and Regional Level.

Director of Operations: Chris Higgins

• Appointed to current position on 1 March 2019.

• Joined the trust in 1998.

• Has been qualified as a mental health nurse for 20 years with additional clinical and health leadership qualifications.

• Has held a range of clinical and non clinical roles in the Trust including:
  • nursing
  • business development
  • strategy
  • operations.
• Led the implementation of a number of service improvements including:
  • service redesign
  • advancement of integrated neighbourhood working
  • trialling older adult home treatment services
  • reducing of Out of Area mental health placements.

Director of Corporate Governance: Jenna Davies

• Currently on secondment with another NHS Trust.
• Joined the Trust in May 2022.
• Has worked at Director level at a number of NHS trust's across mental health and acute providers, predominately in the corporate and clinical governance fields.
• Studied Law at the University of Birmingham and qualified in 2008, when she also joined the NHS.
• Has led and contributed to a number of large-scale improvement programmes, including a highly complex organisational development projects and preparation for Foundation Trust application status.

Non-Executive Directors

Chris Wright

• Non-executive director since May 2022.
• Extensive experience of leading a large service delivery organisation in the `not for profit’ sector. He has a strong track record for increasing turnover while delivering efficient and cost effective public services to:
  • children
  • young people
  • families
  • adult offenders and the communities they live in.
• Career spans 35 years in
  • children’s services
  • social care
  • criminal justice systems

as a practitioner, manager and strategic leader delivering change management programmes on a national scale.

Professor Di Bailey

• Non-executive director since May 2021.
• Previously held the post of Pro Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation at Nottingham Trent University.
• Over 30 years' experience as a mental health academic, researcher and practitioner.
• Trained social worker and qualified as a professional coach.

Dr Tim Harry

• Non-executive director since May 2021.
• Scientist by background with a first degree in biology and doctorate in renal medicine.
• Senior manager and civil servant with a career of over 40 years covering a wide range of roles up to executive and board level in both the private and public sectors.

Ian Orrell

• A Non-executive director with the Trust since August 2022.
• Has a wealth of experience in the public sector, particularly with large and complex councils.
• Experience 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.
• Over 30 years as a qualified accountant and previous experience in non executive roles where partnership approaches were taken to improve service provision.

Dr Sarah Whiteman

• Dr Sarah Whiteman joined as a non-executive director in January 2024.
• A GP by background, she is currently the Chief Medical Director for Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes (BLMK) Integrated Care Board. Prior to this she was Medical Director and then Chair of the BLMK Clinical Commissioning Group.
• She has extensive senior experience at a strategic board and operational level, having worked for NHS England in Primary Care and as Associate Medical Director for NHS Improvement, supporting over seventy acute, ambulance, community, and mental health trusts.

Dr Kaval Patel

• An associate non-executive director since December 2023.

• Dr Patel is a registered GP and partner in a Lincoln-based medical practice.

• He is also Deputy Chair for the Lincolnshire Primary Care Network Alliance (PCNA) and the Lincolnshire PCNA Strategic Mental Health Transformation Lead.
• Additionally, he is the Clinical Director of Lincoln Healthcare Partnership Primary Care Network (PCN) 

Vijay Luthra 

• Joined the Trust on NHS England's NExT Director programme in January 2024.

• He is a strategic advisor in global health transformation and technology and started his career in the Civil Service before moving into management consulting with PwC and other firms.

• Vijay has worked extensively with the NHS as a consultant and advisor, supporting transformation initiatives. More recently Vijay has worked with private sector healthcare providers of diagnostic services.

• He is a renal transplantee and an advocate for neurodiverse talent as he has ADHD. He is an advisor to Kidney Research UK and a member of the charity’s Development Advisory Board and an Associate Trustee for the GOSH Charity. Vijay is also a Chartered Project Professional, a Chartered Management Consultant and holds an MSc in Public Policy and Management from Kings College London.