Non-executive directors

Our Board

Our non-executive directors

""

Charles has been Joint Chairman for Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts since December 2022.

He is former Chair of both the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, roles he held between 2016 and 2022.

Charles has had a long and distinguished career working at board level across a number of different sectors, including very senior leadership roles at NM Rothschild and GE Capital Europe. He is Chairman of VIVID Housing, a leading housing association and housing development company in south England.

He is a strong supporter of the arts and has served as the lead non-executive director at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. He spent 6 years volunteering with Trinity Hospice, providing support to patients and families at the end of life. He was made a CBE in 2022 for his services to culture and health.

He has a passion for the NHS and a strong desire to support our local communities. He aims to use his connections to the life sciences sector and extensive leadership and commercial experience to support our organisations to continue to provide exceptional care to patients.

""

Simon joined the Board in February 2021, having been a non-executive director at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust since August 2017.

Simon was a chartered accountant and partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), where his career spanned more than 30 years. He has a depth of expertise in finance and audit, as well as a thorough understanding of governance across a range of sectors, technical rigour and board experience at the highest level.

Simon is also:

  • a trustee at Jewish Care, a charity providing residential and day care facilities
  • a member of council at the Royal Academy of Arts
  • non-executive director of Bevan Brittan LLP a national law firm
  • a non-executive director of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Europe Limited

Simon chairs the finance, commercial and investment committee.

""

Felicity joined the Board in September 2016.

She has considerable senior leadership and national and international strategic planning experience. She was Director General for Public and International Health until her retirement from the civil service in June 2016. Before that, Felicity was Director of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit.

After qualifying in medicine in 1980 at St Bartholomew's Medical College, London, she completed an international MBA. Her previous roles include private secretary to the Chief Medical Officer, and head of the Medicines, Pharmacy and Industry Group at the Department of Health.

After her retirement Felicity became a member of the Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee for WHO Health Emergencies (IOAC), and has been its Chair since 2018. She is also:

  • a visiting professor at the Institute of Global Health, Imperial College, London
  • a non-executive director of Mediclinic International plc, an international private healthcare services group, and of Halcyon Topco Ltd (Sciensus Group)
""

Javed joined the Board in February 2021 having been a non-executive director at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust.

He was Chief Executive of the charity Barnardo's and is a leading figure in the UK public and voluntary sectors. Javed regularly advises government ministers, and is a high- profile contributor in the media and at national and international conferences.

Javed has also been a member of the advisory board for the Children's Commissioner for England and the governing body of Hounslow Clinical Commissioning Group. He is Chair designate of the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board and a member of the Government's Grenfell Recovery Taskforce.

""

Sally joined the Board in February 2021 having been a non-executive director and Chair at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust.

She became a life peer in 2001.

She has served as Minister of State in the Cabinet Office, Political Secretary to the Prime Minister and Director of Government Relations at 10 Downing Street, Chair of OFSTED and board member of the Olympic Delivery Authority.

Sally is Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, a post she has held since 2019. Sally chairs the Royal Brompton and Harefield Clinical Group Board.

""

John qualified as an accountant in 1978 and spent the early part of his career in the commercial sector.

He joined the NHS in 1990 as Finance Director of West Lambeth Health Authority, becoming Finance Director of Guy's and St Thomas' when the hospitals merged in 1993.

John was Chief Operating Officer of the Trust until he became the position of Chief Executive of Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust in south London. In 2008 he was appointed Chief Executive of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, a position he held until his retirement from the NHS in November 2015.

John joined the Board in January 2017 and chairs the audit and risk committee.

""

Reza joined the Board in May 2016.

He is Vice President and Vice-Principal of research at King's College London (KCL). He was Director of the Medical Engineering Centre of Research Excellence at KCL, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Reza is also a children's cardiologist at Evelina London Children's Hospital. He helped to establish our cardiovascular MRI service and developed the world's first cardiovascular MRI cardiac catheterisation programme.

He is also Director of the London Medical Imaging and AI Centre for Value Based Healthcare funded by Innovate UK and Office for Life Sciences.

""

Sheila joined the Board in June 2013.

She was the Department of Health's National Clinical Director for Children, Young People and Maternity for 7 years until March 2013.

She was a consultant paediatrician for more than 25 years and was Medical Director of Northampton General Hospital for 11 years. At Northampton she led the successful integration of children's hospital, community and mental health services, working closely with the local authority.

Sheila chairs the Board of Evelina women and children's clinical group.

""

Priya was an executive director at the largest international professional indemnity organisation and has a background in primary care and legal medicine.

She brings substantial strategic, risk and safety experience to her role on the Board.

She is Chair of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and Chair designate of the Frimley Integrated Care Board.

Priya joined the Board in November 2015, was appointed Deputy Chair in 2021, and chairs the Quality and Performance Committee.

""

Steve lives locally in Southwark.

He has spent most of his career in finance with international consumer goods group, Unilever. He retired from his role as Global Controller and part of Unilever's finance leadership team in 2018. He has extensive experience in making operational and commercial decisions involving large budgets and complex financial constraints, and in leading and developing multi-cultural teams.

Steve joined the Board in July 2014 and chairs the transformation and major programmes committee.

Ian Playford, non-executive director

Ian joined the Trust following the merger with Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust. He joined Royal Brompton and Harefield in 2020 as a non-executive director.

He has been a senior executive with over 30 years' experience across the public and private sector. His previous roles include interim chief executive of the Government Property Agency, where he was asked by the Cabinet Office to set up and manage central Government's £3bn office, warehouse and science estate.

He was also a group property director of Kingfisher PLC where he set the strategy for their capital investment programme and retail distribution portfolio of 1,000 stores across ten countries. 

Ian has also been a member of the board of HM Courts and Tribunals Service and the Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in East Grinstead.

""

Miranda joined the Trust on 1 January 2023.

She is a business expert, board advisor, investor and philanthropist across many sectors. She is also a multi award-winning diversity, inclusion and sustainability champion.

She has nearly 30 years of national and international experience in a variety of services including financial, law, charity and health.

Miranda has wide ranging experience as a Non-Executive Director.

Before joining the Bar of England and Wales as a barrister and senior banking lawyer she worked as an investment banker.

She has served as an equality commissioner for Lambeth Council and is President and Board Chair of The Miranda Brawn Diversity Leadership Foundation. Miranda is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford lecturing, mentoring and researching The Brawn Review on boardroom sustainability and inclusion.

Is this page useful?