Welcome to our Board
The Board is accountable for our vision, strategy, operational management, and financial decisions. We have a unitary Board which consists of fifteen Board Members including the Chair, seven voting Non -Executive Directors, and seven voting Executive Directors.
Executive Directors
Our Executive Directors are responsible for the day to day management of the Trust and are also part of the Board. They are lead by the Chief Executive.
Non-Executive Directors
Non-Executive Directors ensure that the Board acts in the best interests of our patients and community. They are appointed based on thier skill and experience for a specific term.
Trust Chair
The Trust Chair, who is a Non-Executive Director holds a dual role as Chair of the Board of Directors as well as the Council of Governors. This means that the Chair is responsible for leading both the Board and the Council of Governors to ensure that they are working together effectively.
Additionally, the Board also includes a Deputy Chair who deputises for the Chair when appropriate and a Senior Independent Director (SID) who is appointed by the Board made in consultation with the Council of Governors. The SID should act as the point of contact with the Board of Directors if Governors have concerns which approaches through normal channels have failed to resolve or for which such approaches are inappropriate. The SID may also act as the point of contact with the Board for Governors when they discuss for example the Chair's performance.
The Board works closely with our Council of Governors who represents the views of our local community.
Contacting the Board
All Board members may be contacted via the Corporate Governance Team via Corporate.meeting@swast.nhs.uk, South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Abbey Court, Eagle Way, Exeter, EX2 7HY.
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Dr John Martin
Chief Executive
Dr John Martin was appointed Chief Executive of South Western
Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust in December 2023.
John has joined the organisation on secondment from his role as Chief Paramedic and Quality Officer and Deputy Chief Executive at London Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
An experienced Executive Board member with a wealth of clinical and operational experience across ambulance, acute, community and mental health NHS services, John is also a Visiting Professor in
Paramedic Science at the University of Hertfordshire.
John joined London Ambulance Service NHS Trust in March 2021 and was the first Chief Paramedic to sit on an ambulance Trust Board.
John was formerly a director at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust and has dedicated his career to improving patient care and developing the paramedic profession.
John has been active in developing the College of Paramedics for many years, and in May 2023, he finished his second term as the College’s President.