With 30 years police experience, Giles was Chief Constable of Sussex Police from 2014 to 2020. As well as his operational responsibilities, Giles was the vice-chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and led significant national programmes focusing on digital transformation and workforce development. Giles received national recognition from the British Association of Women in Policing for his national contribution to equality and his support for diversity and inclusion of LGBT communities. He was awarded the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) for distinguished service and is a Deputy Lieutenant for East Sussex. He volunteers in several ways including being The County President for St John Ambulance in Sussex.
Giles was a Non-Executive Director at the Trust from October 2021 to May 2023. During this time he was Chair of both the People Committee and Sussex Primary Care.
Mark joined Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust as a Non-Executive Director in July 2021 following a 30-year career with Lloyds Banking group. At Lloyds Mark gained experience of general management across retail and business banking as well as holding senior roles covering procurement, supply chain, transformation, strategy and risk. Mark is also a Non-Executive Director at Supply Chain Co-ordination Ltd and The Kemnal Academies Trust.
Gill joined the Trust as a Non-Executive Director on 1 June 2023. She has worked in the NHS for over 40 years and most recently was interim Chair for two Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in Sussex until June 2022. Gill successfully led a CCG out of legal directions with improved leadership, governance, finance and performance in place. She has increased diversity on governing bodies and influenced CCG mergers and local Integrated Care System (ICS) development.
In her career, Gill has held very senior NHS Board positions including Chief Executive, Finance Director and Commissioning/Operations Director. She is an advocate of compassionate leadership and has been supporting Boards to reflect on how this works in the current environment.
Gill also provides consultancy and executive coaching across a wide spectrum of individuals and organisations. She chairs CW Medicines Limited (a subsidiary company of Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust) and continues to be a founding governing body member of a community interest company.
Gill has an MBA, is a qualified accountant (ACMA) and holds a postgraduate qualification in executive coaching and mentoring.
Lesley joined Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust as a Non-Executive Director in July 2021. She holds qualifications in both district nursing and health visiting and has had a long NHS career working mainly in community services as a clinician and a Board member. Prior to retirement from executive roles, Lesley was Chief Operating Officer/Deputy Chief Executive of Kent Community NHS Foundation Trust having joined the organisation within weeks of its creation and been part of the leadership team that took Kent Community to Outstanding in 2019.
Dipesh started his career in 2006 at Barclays Investment Bank, where over eight years he held several roles culminating as Vice President of UK and Ireland. Since 2014, Dipesh has been at the Royal Bank of Canada where he currently is the Director and Head of UK and DACH Solutions. Dipesh holds senior roles covering distribution, governance, technology strategy and transformational change of the business.
Dipesh plays an active role in the voluntary sector and has worked on various community projects. He is passionate about mentoring and diversity.
Mandy joined the Trust as a Non-Executive Director in January 2023, after working for 25 years as a management consultant. She focused predominantly in retail and consumer-product businesses, designing and leading major business change so brings new perspectives to the Trust. She was a Vice-President of Capgemini Consulting responsible for Strategy and Transformation and then the Business Planning Director of Tesco. Mandy is now a freelance business consultant, trainer and executive coach. She is passionate about building collaboration and engagement of people into all aspects of delivering change.
Veronika joined the Trust as a Non-Executive Director on 1 December 2023. An Occupational Therapist by background, Veronika has over 20 years senior leadership experience. She has worked extensively across the voluntary sector, particularly in relation to Children and Young People, and has spent her career developing and delivering services in partnership. Veronika is passionate about addressing inequalities and promoting diversity and inclusion.
Veronika is a Trustee of Young Minds, a mental health charity for children, young people and their parents, and is Chair of the Ethics Committee for Sussex Police.
Responsibilities
Siobhan Melia is currently Chief Executive of Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, the largest provider of NHS community services in Sussex. She took over the role in September 2016 having previously held the position of Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Partnerships and Commercial Development at the organisation.
Siobhan has a huge amount of public healthcare experience, having worked in the NHS for over 21 years in a range of roles.
She began her career on the clinical frontline, obtaining her postgraduate degree in podiatry from the University of Brighton, and went on to hold a number of different clinical leadership roles. She subsequently undertook senior management and Board level roles at a large NHS community health provider in Berkshire, and in 2012 she received her MBA (Health Executive) from Keele University.
She joined Sussex Community in October 2013 from Telefonica UK, where she headed up their Telehealth division.
Responsibilities
Mike is a qualified accountant and a fellow of the ACCA. He began his accountancy career working in the financial services industry, then in higher education and then began his NHS career in 2002. He moved from Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in 2009 and joined Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
At Western Sussex he was Deputy Director of Finance and interim Finance Director before joining their executive team permanently in 2014 as Commercial Director.
Karen joined the Trust on 1 January 2024 following her role as Clinical Director of Programmes for the Sussex ICS, where she provided clinical leadership across large-scale transformation programmes, ensuring a focus on population health management, health inequalities and prevention.
Karen had previously been a GP with a Special Interest in Pain Management for University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust. Karen was also previously a Senior GP Partner for The Brow Health Centre in Burgess Hill, where she continues in a salaried GP role.
Joined in June 2020
Donna began her career in acute care before moving to community services with a London PCT and Sure Start Centres.
After a short time working as an Associate Inspector for the Healthcare Commission, Donna moved to Redbridge Children’s Trust as a Nurse Manager.
From there, Donna moved into a quality and governance role before joining the Nursing and Midwifery Council as a Fitness to Practice panellist. In 2013 Donna joined Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust as an Assistant Director of Quality and Governance and the patient safety and safeguarding lead. In 2017 Donna was seconded into the role of Director of Nursing and Non-Medical Professionals before being appointed substantively.
Donna is a senior nurse, midwife and health visitor and is also a scholar of the Florence Nightingale Foundation.
She has a passion for listening to patients, their families and carers and is committed to shaping and delivering effective improvements to staff engagement and quality of care.
Joined October 2019
Kate started her career in the NHS as a midwife and health visitor before working in several operational roles within children and adult services, including Head of Children’s Services and Area Director.
Kate was appointed interim Director of Operations in October 2017 to support the Trust’s Chief Operating Officer, with a particular focus on supporting colleagues internally who manage and provide patient services. This role was made substantive in May 2018. In October 2019 Kate was promoted to Chief Operating Officer.
Kate has an Msc in Leadership and Management. She has been with the Trust since it was formed in 2010.
Joined in 2017
Ensures we meet our service, regulatory and statutory obligations with regards to all aspects of Human Resources
Is responsible for Organisational Development (OD), facilitating organisational success by aligning structural, cultural and strategic goals to respond to the needs of the NHS now and in the future
Ensures that Communications and Engagement puts patients at the heart of all services delivered by SCFT and that all staff are engaged with the work of the Trust
Leads the Occupational Health service ensuring that staff are well at work and have access to the support that they need to remain that way Is responsible for Learning and Development
Caroline was appointed as Chief People Officer at Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust in November 2017, having previously been the Deputy Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development.
Caroline has worked in a range of roles in human resources and organisational development across acute, specialist and mental health NHS trusts for over 20 years.
Caroline is also a member of the national Social Partnership Forum and has an MA in HRM and is a Fellow of the CIPD.