Hospice Trustees
The Board of Trustees is made up entirely from volunteers and is responsible for the governance of the Hospice.
The Full Board of Trustees meets six times a year. There are also subgroups, each chaired by a Trustee with the appropriate area of expertise, covering all aspects of the Hospice i.e. Estates, Human Resources, Clinical Assurance, Finance, Income Generation and Digital & Technology.
IAN CRAIG
CHAIR
Although Ian is a proud Aberdonian, he has lived in Merseyside since 2000, is a season ticket holder at Everton and has most recently been a Director at Nationwide Building Society.
Ian has previously held executive roles at both Barclays and Bank of America leading large operational and technology functions, both in the UK and internationally.
Having seen his father die when he was young and how little palliative care support was available for families at that time, Ian is keen to support Willowbrook and is passionate about the work that they do.
DR KAREN BEEBY
TRUSTEE
ELAINE INGLESBY CBE
TRUSTEE
Dame Elaine is a registered nurse and has held several executive nurse positions across the NW of England and joined Salford Royal as Executive Nurse Director in 2004 she later held the position of Chief Nurse, at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust later becoming the Northern Care Alliance after acquiring Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
Elaine is educated to post graduate degree, is an honorary Professor at both Salford and Bolton Universities. She is a Florence Nightingale Leadership Scholar and undertook extensive programmes at Harvard Business School and the Institute of Healthcare Improvement in Boston, Massachusetts.
Elaine was a member of the Prime Ministers’ Nursing and Care Quality Forum and was part of the Berwick National Advisory Group on the Safety of Patients in England, both were part of the Government response to the Mid Staffordshire Report. In 2016, she became a Non-Executive Director of the National Institute of Care and Excellence.
In 2015, Elaine was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( CBE) for services to nursing. In 2019, Elaine became the first national recipient of NHS England’s Chief Nursing Officers Gold Award and in October 2020, she was promoted to a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the HM the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Elaine was Interim Chief Nursing Officer for Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust 2021-2022 and is currently Non Executive Director at Bridgewater Community Healthcare Foundation Trust, Trustee at Willowbrook Hospice and a Deputy Lieutenant for Merseyside.
DR MICHAEL VAN DESSEL
CHAIRPERSON OF THE CLINICAL ASSURANCE SUB GROUP
A local GP whose clinical primary care knowledge is invaluable in guiding the Hospice’s strategy to meet the true needs of our patients.
Michael is the current chair of the Clinical Assurance sub-group of the Board of Trustees.
SARAH CARBERRY
TRUSTEE
Since commencing her clinical career, gaining significant experience in nursing, Sarah then moved into operational management.
Sarah is currently a highly experienced commissioner for urgent care services with key experienced gained across North West England. P
Previously, Sarah also held the post of commissioner for end of life care within the Knowsley Clinical Commissioning Group.
STEPHEN FAIRHURST
CHAIRPERSON OF THE DIGITAL AND TECHNOLOGY SUB GROUP
Steve is the current Managing Director of The Branded Items Group and Regenic Ltd, two companies that operate in the marketing and promotions sector that are based in St Helens.
With over 20 years’ experience running companies, Steve has a strong background in marketing, sales and communications having consulted with companies in the UK, USA and Far East.
Steve hopes to bring his commercial and marketing experience to contribute to Willowbrook business and income streams.
JON DOBSON
CHAIRPERSON OF THE HR SUB GROUP
Jon has 35+ years’ experience of working in HR in the NHS, gained at St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals (20+yrs) and Salford Royal/Northern Care Alliance (15yrs) dealing with a broad range of HR issues including organisational change, workforce transformation, partnership working, and promoting health and well-being.
In his most recent role as Associate Director of Workforce within the Northern Care Alliance, he played a key part in driving service transformation and cost improvement plans, advising Directors and service leads.
Dr Alan Baron
CHAIR OF FINANCE SUB GROUP
INTERIM CHAIR OF INCOME STEERING SUB GROUP
As the former Chief Executive of Wigan and Leigh Hospice, Alan is passionate about high quality, person-centred palliative and end of life care.
He represented North West Hospices on the Advisory Council of Hospice UK, the national representative body for hospices and was involved in several committees seeking to influence government in their support of local hospices.
Alan gained a PhD studying the culture, identity and image of local hospices subsequently publishing a book on the subject. Prior to working in the hospice world, Alan was a finance and general manager in a number of small to medium sized businesses and financial institutions.
Allan Sansbury
TRUSTEE
Allan is a retired qualified Accountant who started his career in the private sector working for an international firm of Chartered Accountants. He also has 35 years of experience in the NHS including senior positions at St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals, NW Strategic Health Authority and in later years Health Education England.
During this time he has dealt with the full range issues linked to the audit and management of financial resources as well as organisational change and workforce transformation.
Having seen the benefits his father received from hospice care in the past he is committed to contributing all his experience and knowledge to Willowbrook into the future.
Gary Ward
TRUSTEE
Gary began his career in recruitment in 2004, which enabled him to progress into management roles, and since 2009 he has been in operational roles within the recruitment industry.
Gary is the Managing Director of a recruitment business based in St Helens and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the business. In this role, Gary has led-functional multi-disciplinary teams of professionals, while also delivering process and performance improvements.
Gary is passionate about people and improving and modernising company cultures, helping to shift from traditional to more inclusive and value-based cultures.
For the last two years, Gary has supported Willowbrook through various fund-raising activities, most notably Rock and Roll Bingo Nights which he loves hosting and providing entertaining evenings for our supporters.
Michelle Price
TRUSTEE
Michelle has worked in Local Government since graduating from Leeds University in 1999. Covering a diverse range of job roles starting in front line house service delivery, she went on to focus on policy, strategy, transformation, organisational development, internal communications and engagement as a programme Manager.
Michelle loves making a difference and improving services to have the best possible outcome, she is passionate about people.
A life long St Helens resident, and mum of three, Michelle has a strong sense of connection with Willowbrook as both of her parents were cared for here. It was this experience that inspired Michelle to want to support the brilliant work that Willowbrook does, as a Trustee.
Michelle hope to bring her Programme Management and Transformation expertise alongside her passion for Willowbrook and the wonderful services it provides to help make a real difference.
Dave Pugh
TRUSTEE
Dave has recently retired, having spent over 38 years in the IT industry. He held senior Sales Director positions at HP, ServiceNow, Symantec and several IT startup companies.
He spent most of his life living in the Rainhill area and is a proud family man with three adult sons and his wife Sue.
In his spare time, Dave likes to travel, play golf and tennis and also enjoys following Liverpool FC.
In his own words, Dave is humbled to be joining the Willowbrook board as a Trustee. He is fully committed to contributing in a meaningful way to the outstanding Willowbrook Hospice.
Jim Toohey
TRUSTEE
Jim worked for Morrisons Supermarkets for 34 years, starting as a shelf filler then rising to the position of Regional Manager, responsible for 27 supermarkets with a weekly turnover of £16 million. In this role he was responsible for stores across the north of England, including Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, North Wales and Lancashire. As a store manager Jim ran the number one store in the company with a turnover of £1.5 million per week and a wage bill of £100,000 per week. Jim was Morrison’s youngest Store Manager at 23 years old, opened the first Morrisons store in Wales and the first Morrisons store in London.
Since leaving Morrisons, Jim owned a bar in the town centre and now owns a business networking group in St Helens.
