Who we are

Alan Yates

Skills

  • Experienced implementer of service process redesign
  • Pragmatic solutions in a complex-adaptive environment
  • Transformational change management and incremental improvement approaches
  • Building high performing Boards and teams
  • Powerful use of informatics in healthcare
  • Quality improvement through planning, delivery and governance
  • Leading patient focused organisational behaviour

Professional experience

  • Alan has worked from being a graduate management trainee through general management posts to Chief executive responsibility. He is qualified by diploma with the Institute of Healthcare Management and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.
  • Alan has extensive experience of designing and operating governance systems in healthcare settings.  This has involved financial, organisational and service/quality governance. As implementation is the key, his experience of making governance systems work is invaluable.
  • The health informatics service, over a nine hospital collaborative, was overseen by Alan for 3 years as Non Executive Chairman and its contribution to integrated care, clinical quality improvement and productivity were all developed under his tenure.
  • Through his Presidency of a European Committee Alan has gained insights into comparative healthcare, national systems, the impact of culture on system design and effectiveness, as well as developing a model for European convergence in mental healthcare.
  • Alan has led mental health services for over 20 years and has integrated service user involvement into organisational processes in a way which does not subdue the voice and enables significant added value.
  • In his last employed post he oversaw the design and implementation of a medical staff appraisal system which showed significant service governance benefits and it was strongly supported by the medical staff as a vehicle for improvement and accountability.
  • Capital plan delivery. Alan has acted as project manager, project director and senior responsible owner for capital schemes for buildings and equipment ranging from a complete children’s hospital on a general hospital site, linear accelerator and scanner developments, a new wing for a major teaching hospital, to community centres. These have been procured variously by public private partnership, private finance initiative, leaseback and exchequer capital.
  • Alan is published in peer reviewed journals on the subject of Action Learning and has benefitted from and used the approach for over 20 years.  In his last post as Chief executive he led the use of the approach for over 10 years and through evaluation, demonstrated its benefit as a cost-effective method of organisation development.
  • Financial control has always been an emphasis in Alan’s leadership of an organisation. Cost reduction strategies have been important and not everything. More recently with colleagues Alan has developed a quality impact assessment approach to cost reduction which allows quality improvement and cost reduction to coexist.
  • Clinical engagement and involvement is vital if the “disconnected hierarchy” is to be avoided.  Alan has demonstrated how conducive organisational environments, clarity regarding the contribution expected and clinical management development programmes all lead to significant value added.
  • Since going independent Alan has supported two Welsh Health Boards in fundamental strategic review, supported three health economies to make practical progress with integrated approaches to health and social care commissioning and provision, has provided strategic support to an FT seeking a vertically integrated care offer and provided analytical and benchmarking support to a Northern Irish Trust in their Mental Health planning. He has successfully supported Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust to sustain its services through reputational damage, staff retention issues and organisational flux until dissolution. More recently he successfully supported Norfolk and Suffolk NHSFT to exit special measures. He has stabilised Southern Health NHSFT during his time as Chairman and developed its strategic direction ready for implementation.
Mark Brearley

Skills

  • Track record of delivery of financial performance within a service context
  • Leadership and Organisational development
  • Working outside of traditional finance boundaries.
  • Developing and turning strategy into delivery.
  • Strategic service redesign and re-modelling.
  • Developing and engaging Clinical leaders.
  • Quality and service improvement.
  • Clinical and corporate governance.

Professional experience

  • Mark has worked as a Finance Director in a range of teaching, acute and combined NHS Trusts and NHS Foundation Trusts for over 25 years.
  • He had worked as Finance Director in Hull and East Yorkshire for 8 years during the successful merger of two healthcare organisations, which included spells as Acting/Deputy CEO. He negotiated and developed 3 PFI schemes and led the financial aspects for both the NHS and Universities of the successful establishment of the Hull/York Medical School.
  • He worked for 5 years as part of the Executive team of one of the continuously high performing NHS Foundation Trusts in England, delivering sustainable financial performance alongside activity and quality improvements.
  • The organisation was independently assessed as Trust of the Year in 2010 and was continuously listed as one of the top 40 hospitals.
  • He led East Lancashire NHS Trust, as Chief Executive for over 2 years, stabilising the operational and financial environment before and after being one of the first Trusts put into Special Measures.
  • In 2014, as Finance/Turnaround Director he joined East Cheshire NHS Trust, an unsustainable combined Trust (providing small acute, community and GP out of hours services) in order to lead, with the Chief Executive, the development and delivery of a strategic solution, based on the principles of an accountable care organisation. The Trust sought solutions to unsustainable services with other providers in Southern Manchester, Cheshire and North Staffordshire.
  • On joining UHS Ltd, his first assignment was a 7 month assignment as Director of Transformation at Warrington & Halton NHS Foundation Trust. He developed the PMO and operational support to deliver a £10M CIP, with £3.5M not planned in July 2015. The delivery of a full CIP was required to stabilise the Trust financial position. After initially expected to be until end of October 2015, the assignment concluded in early February 2016, including undertaking the role of Interim Director of Finance two months, with backfill for the Transformation role from within UHS Ltd.
  • Early in 2016 he was asked to join the Executive team at North Cumbria University Hospitals to work on the financial turnaround of the Trust and health economy, as the Trust’s Executive Finance Director. He has led the delivery of a stabilised and improving financial position as well as contributing to the Success Regime financial strategy.
  • From 1 April 2017, Mark supported the WNE Cumbria STP, ensuring that the health economy is well placed to deliver an accountable care system from mid 2017/18, having openly and transparently worked together to deliver each organisations’ 2016/17 control totals and a risk agreement for 2017/18.
  • In April 2017, Mark also supported our partnership with PA Consulting delivering the financial consultancy support to the FIP2 Programme at Hillingdon Hospitals NHS FT.
  • He has extensive experience of developing integrated healthcare systems and integrated care systems following successful integration of community services with hospital services at both Calderdale and Huddersfield as Finance Director and East Lancashire Hospitals as CEO.
  • In October 2021, Mark worked with PA Consulting, as lead Director from UHS, for UHS to be a delivery partner in the PA Consortium, securing and delivering the Place Development Programme The first Phase concludes at the end of October 2022. He was involved in the design and delivery of the Module delivering development support on Governance and Resource Management to Places. He has personally worked with c. 20 Places. Mark also assisted in the facilitation of Leadership & Culture development sessions. He also worked with Jackie Bene on Relationship management support to the chosen North-West Places.
  • At the end of March 2023 Mark joined Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS FT as Financial Adviser and in June was appointed Interim Director of Finance. His aim is to stabilise and improve Financial Management within the FT as this challenging time for the NHS.
Sir Andrew Cash

Skills

  • Leadership and Organisational development
  • Strategic service redesign and re-modelling.
  • Developing and engaging Clinical leaders.
  • Structured Quality improvement approaches through planning, delivery and governance
  • Building high performing Boards and teams
  • Building the relationships which enable integrated public services
  • Leading patient focused organisational behaviour
  • Organisational and fit and proper person enquiries

Professional experience

  • Sir Andrew Cash OBE is one of the original founder Directors of Unique Health Solutions, a company formed in 2012 by five senior UK healthcare Chief Executives.
  • Andrew joined the NHS on the national graduate management training scheme and was a CEO for more than 30 years.
  • He has worked at national, regional and local level .
  • He has been seconded three times to work at national level, most recently as the Director General of Provider Development at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) .
  • Andrew was the CEO of the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ( STH) from its inception in July 2004 until his retirement in September 2018 .
  • Since then, Andrew has been the system lead for the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System ( ICS) and is currently the Chair of the Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board ( ICB).
  • Andrew was also the founding Chair of the NHS Foundation Trust Network ( FTN), has chaired the Shelford Group comprising of the ten largest regional teaching centres in England and was for a long period the Deputy Chair of the NHS Confederation.
  • He is also a member of the NHS National Assembly.’
Jackie Bene

Skills

  • Transforming organizational performance through Board leadership and staff engagement.
  • Clinical engagement and medical leadership
  • Structured quality improvement approaches
  • Service re-modelling and redesign
  • Leading and developing Place based partnerships with key stakeholders including local government and the voluntary sector
  • Leading and developing Integrated Care Systems

Professional experience

  • Jackie graduated from Sheffield University Medical School in 1988 and after basic medical training in the southwest of England she undertook her specialist training in Elderly Medicine across Greater Manchester
  • She was appointed as a Consultant Physician at the Royal Bolton Hospital in 1998 and soon became the Clinical Lead for Elderly Care services across the hospital and community, providing the clinical leadership to the local Orthogeriatric and Falls Service and Bolton’s

Intermediate Care service

  • Subsequently as the Medical Divisional Medical Director (2003 – 2008) she led the redesign of the Emergency and Acute Care pathways and developed the Acute Medicine service long before Acute Medicine became a recognized specialty
  • She was then appointed to Executive Medical Director of Bolton NHS Foundation Trust (2008-2012), and subsequently as its Chief Executive (2013 – March 2020)
  • As Chief Executive Jackie developed and led the financial recovery and quality improvement plan at Bolton NHS FT and led the Trust out of breach of authorization in 2015.
  • She led the Trust to significantly improved CQC ratings and high staff satisfaction and patient experience scores, particularly across community services between 2016 and 2019
  • Upon the CQC re-inspection of the Trust in 2019 the Trust was deemed outstanding in the well led domain
  • Jackie was the Provider Collaborative CEO lead for the Improving Specialist Care programme; reconfiguration of 8 major services across Great Manchester between 2018 and 2020.
  • She also chaired Greater Manchester’s Frailty Collaborative which developed the Greater Manchester Frailty Charter and chaired the Greater Manchester Uro-Oncology service review 2019-20.
  • Throughout her time in Bolton, she was a practicing Consultant Physician specializing in Acute and Elderly Medicine (1998-2020).
  • Jackie was then appointed as the Chief Officer of the Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership in April 2020.  She was responsible for developing and leading this Sustainability and Transformation Partnership to an Integrated Care System by April 2021.  The Cheshire and Merseyside ICS is the third largest in the country serving a population of 2.6 million and combines 19 Trusts, 9CCG’s, 9 LA’s and 51 PCN’s.
  • She established a substantive leadership team at the system level and initiated the transition of clinical commissioning functions, skills and talent into the ICS
  • She developed the governance across the Health and Care Partnership including the establishment of a Primary Care Forum and two Provider Collaboratives
  • She established a network which fostered the development of the nine place-based partnerships across Cheshire and Merseyside
  •  She led the review of the system  transformation programmes and refocused their objectives to align them with improving population health and reducing health inequalities
  •  She led the COVID vaccination programme across Cheshire and Merseyside achieving high levels of uptake and penetration into significantly deprived communities.
  • Since working independently Jackie has worked across England on the nationally commissioned Population Health and Place Based Development Programme. This programme  supported Places in almost every ICS to develop their leadership, governance, population health management approach and digital strategies through an Action Learning approach. Jackie was a key facilitator in the leadership and governance modules in just over half of the systems across England.
  • She provides strategic advice to Infinity /Liaison Group and is a Special Advisor to the Advancing Quality Alliance.