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 fourteen Board Members including the Chair, six 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 led 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 their 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 Contact Us page here. 

 

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Jess Cunningham

Jess Cunningham

Executive Director of Operations

Jessica joined the NHS in 1992 on the National General Management Training Scheme Programme and spent the first decade of her career working in a number of large teaching hospitals in the north of England managing a number of specialties including Trauma and Orthopaedics, Ophthalmology, Renal, Neurosciences, Emergency Departments, Theatres and Anaesthetics amongst others.

Jessica worked as an Operations Director in an acute hospital before joining the South West Strategic Health Authority in 2004 as the Performance Manager for Somerset, Devon and Dorset. During her time at the SHA she also led a number of strategic programmes of work across the South West including Renal, Stroke Services and Child Health.

In 2012 Jessica joined South Western Ambulance Service as the Director responsible for leading the Acquisition of the Great Western Ambulance Service. In 2013 she became the Director of Planning and Performance with responsibility for negotiating the ambulance service contract and managing the Trusts relationships with Clinical Commissioning Groups and regulatory bodies.

Jessica was appointed as the Executive Director of Operations in October 2017 and is responsible for all Ambulance Frontline Services in the Trust including ambulance services across eight Counties, two 999 Emergency Operations Centres, the Trusts Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response service including two HART bases, the Trusts Fleet and Ambulance Vehicle Preparation Service, and the Resourcing Operations Centre. 

Jessica also represents the Trust nationally and is the first female Chair of the National Directors of Operations Group.

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