Caroline Fowles Chief Executive

Caroline Fowles has been Chief Executive of Swindon Primary Care Trust since October 2006. Caroline is also Swindon Borough Council’s Group Director of Housing & Social Care as part of integrated working arrangements between the Primary Care Trust and Swindon Borough Council.

 Caroline’s career has been spent working in the NHS having commenced in 1979 as a National Trainee and she has held a variety of roles in Acute Services and at Director and Chief Executive level in the South West.

Caroline Fowles 
01793 708703

 Michelle Howard Chair

Michelle is a retired solicitor, who specialised in personal injury law. She is currently a trustee of the Spinal Injury Association, where she has served as both Vice Chair and Chair. Michelle was Chair of the Law Society Group for Solicitors with Disabilities and worked to move the group into mainstream Law Society Activity. As well as this, she is involved with a number of charities, mainly concentrating on disability issues and health and social care areas. Michelle has been a Non-Executive Director at the PCT since 1997; she was appointed Chair of Swindon PCT in 2004 and remains in this position after being re-elected. She works closely with the Appointments Commission in driving forward their equality and diversity agenda, whilst serving on its Disability Advisory Committee. Michelle has been a School Governor at both Primary and Secondary School level in Swindon and was a Brownie Guider for 15 years.

Michelle Howard 

01793 708707

 Heather Mitchell Acting CEO

Heather was previously Joint Director of Commissioning with NHS Swindon and Swindon Borough Council and took up this post on 18 June 2007.  Before this, she was Director of Corporate Performance/ Operations for Swindon PCT, a position she held since June 2004.  Heather joined the NHS in 1982, and has held Director-level posts at all levels of the service.

As Joint Director of Commissioning, Heather worked to put people at the centre of commissioning of health and care in Swindon, and passionately believes services should be reshaped around this principle.

Heather Mitchell  

01793 708702

 Chris Osman Director of Workforce & Corporate Dev

Chris joined the PCT in June 2008, having worked in the NHS in Swindon since 1994. Chris has held a number of senior positions in human resources management and has been actively involved in community and voluntary sector organisations in Swindon, including positions of school governor and as a trustee of Swindon Carers Centre from 2002-2006. Chris has a Masters Degree in the Management of Human Resources and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Chris Osman 

01793 708778

 Victoria Downing-Burn Director of Strategic Change

Victoria is the Director of Strategic Change, having joined the PCT in 1997 as the Associate Director of HR. Victoria’s role is to support the PCT Board and senior managers in delivering the change capability in support of the development of Provider Services, and World Class Commissioning competencies. Victoria has worked in HR and OD in the NHS for nine years, and she is experienced in working with PCTs, mental health trusts, SHAs and the DH. She has a PhD in HRM and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Victoria Downing-Burn
01793 708812

 Nicola Dunn Director of Finance

Nicola joined Swindon PCT in April 2007 as Director of Finance. Before this she was interim Director of Finance for the newly merged Wiltshire PCT. Nicola began her career with the NHS in 1989, working in the acute sector within the finance function until 1995, before joining Gloucestershire Health Authority as Assistant Director of Finance and Assistant Director of Specialist Commissioning.  In April 2001, Nicola took up the post of Director of Finance and Deputy Chief Executive at South Gloucestershire PCT and then moved on to become Director of Finance at Kennet and North Wiltshire and West Wiltshire PCTs in 2005. Nicola is a qualified accountant, and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Nicola Dunn

01793 708704

 Edward Wilson Joint Director Service Delivery

Ted moved into his current role in November 2008, following his previous post as Joint Director of Integration.  Ted was previously Chief Executive of Merthyr Tydfil Local Health Board in South Wales, a post he held for five years. He was previously a General Manager of Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust and before then General Manager of the Vale of Glamorgan Local Health Group. Ted joined the NHS in 1982 working in several corporate support and strategic health management functions including a Director role in Health Promotion Wales.

Ted Wilson

01793 465852

 Dr Jenny Harries Joint Director Public Health

Jenny commenced her role as Joint Public Health Director in July 2009 and prior to this was Local Public Health Director for Monmouthshire Local Health Board. After qualifying as a doctor from Birmingham University she held various medical posts in the West Midlands, Herefordshire and New Zealand, transferring into Public Health training in Wales in 1996.

Jenny holds degrees in Medicine and Pharmacology and postgraduate qualifications in Public Health, Health Economics, Strategic Commissioning and Business Administration. She is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, a Member of the Chartered Management Institute, a Partner with the Postgraduate Medical Education Training Board and a current Member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
 

Jenny Harries

01793 708806

Dr Liz Mearns GP member and PEC Chair

GP Liz Mearns is a GP at the Hawthorn Medical Centre and chair of the PCT Professional Executive Committee. She is a GP trainer and an examiner for the Royal College of General Practitioners. She completed her M Sc in primary health care in 2004, researching into GP attitudes towards self directed learning; and was nominated a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 2007. Dr Mearns is the clinical governance lead, overseeing standards of healthcare across the PCT.

Dr Liz Mearns

01793 708860

 Michael Barnes Vice Chair

Michael Barnes LLM is a retired solicitor who specialised in commercial conveyancing. He served as a Swindon Borough councillor for twelve years and was Mayor of Swindon 2007/2008. As a member of the PCT Board, Michael chairs the Clinical Priorities Committee and the Practice Based Commissioning Scrutiny Committee and sits on the Remuneration Committee. Married with two adult children, Michael has lived in Swindon since 1984.

  Michael Barnes

01793 882311

 William John Fishlock Non Executive Director

William (or Bill as he likes to be called) retired from a local firm of Chartered Accountants in 1995. Since that time he has been involved in various charities and is a Vice President of Prospect Hospice. Bill was born in Swindon, is married with two adult children. He is Chairman of the Audit Committee, sits on the Clinical Priorities Committee and has a special interest in cancer services

Bill Fishlock

01793 521581

 Cllr David Wren Non Executive Director

David is a graduate in Mathematics who joined the Board in January 2003. Working for British Telecom until 1997, when he took early retirement, he was a Project Manager and Systems & Business Analyst. He has been a Swindon Borough Councillor since 2002, serving on numerous Committees and Commissions and was the cabinet member for the local environment.  Within the PCT,  is the Chair of the Provider Services Committee, a member of both the Audit & Assurance Committee and the  Workforce and  Remuneration Committee, a member of the Patient Environment Assessment Team, a Complaints Convenor, and lead Non-Executive Director for Public Health and Workforce & Diversity.  Within the Community,  David has been the Chair of Governors for the Chalet School and was founder member and Chair of a local charity group for arthritis sufferers. Married with two daughters, David has lived in Swindon since 1983 and is currently the Mayor of Swindon.

David Wren

01793 337591

 Gill May Nurse Member and Vice Chair of PEC

Gill began her nursing career in 1979 when she began life in the NHS as a Nursing Assistant and then in 1980 undertook her nurse training. After qualifying she worked in General Medicine and Coronary Care. In 1987 she left acute nursing and moved into the community, training at Cheltenham and Gloucester University to become a District Nurse and in 1995 became Community Practice Teacher training at Southampton University. Since qualifying as a District Nurse she worked in Wiltshire before moving into Swindon in 1994. Gill has been an operational manager for District Nursing and Health Visiting, more recently managing Out of Hours Community Nursing and Specialist Nursing staff. Since Oct 2009 Gill has moved to commissioning and is the Lead Nurse for the PCT and Vice Chair of PEC.

Gill May

01793 695151

 Ian James Non Executive Director

Ian is a Chartered Accountant and spent many years in the Financial Services sector before taking early retirement at the end of 2001. He is now a Trustee of Swindon Citizens Advice Bureau, a Governor of New College and a Director of Community Radio Swindon.

Ian James

01793 765340

 Deb Bignell Non Executive Director

Deb is the Development Manager for Swindon Carers Centre. She is responsible for carer involvement, policy and strategy. Deb is also the manager of the Young Carers Team and is a volunteer Trustee for the charity the Friends of Young Carers.

Initially Deb worked as an Analytical Chemist before a change in career and trained to be a state registered nurse.  She was an A& E Sister but after undertaking her MA this prompted another career change and she worked in the North east as a Community Development Officer.

Deb has lived in Swindon since 1983 is married with two daughters and has two lively grandchildren.

Deb Bignell

01793 401093