The Trust Board

The Trust Board is the statutory authority, which sets the overall strategy for the Trust and monitors performance. The Trust has eight Non-Executive Directors, including the Chairman, and six Executive Directors. Non-Executive Directors bring an independent view to the decision making process of the Board.

Stacey Hunter - Chief Executive

Stacey is an experienced NHS Board Director with over 34 years’ experience working in the NHS and a decade operating in Chief Operating Officer, Divisional Director and Executive System Transformation roles. She has spent time working in large scale teaching hospitals, an integrated acute and community trust and is passionate about reducing the inequalities patients experience in respect of their access, experience and outcomes of care.

A nurse by background, Stacey spent several years working in clinical leadership roles before expanding her experience in general management. She has invested in her leadership development having undertaken the NHS Leadership Academy Aspiring CEO programme and is keen to continue to support the Trust to develop an inclusive culture that develops clinical and operational leaders to seek to continuously improve their services.

Stacey has experience of being a trustee in a number of different charities over the last 20 years most of them related to health and care.

Outside of work Stacey enjoys sailing and spending time with her dogs!

Peter Collins - Chief Medical Officer

Peter Collins joined the Trust as Interim Medical Director in October 2020, becoming Chief Medical Officer in March 2021.

Peter trained as a liver specialist and was the clinical lecturer at the Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre at the Royal Free Hospital prior to taking up a consultant post at University Hospitals Bristol Foundation Trust in 2005. He has a research interest in primary liver cancer and alcohol related liver failure and led the regional Primary Liver Cancer Service for the West of England. He has had a number of senior leadership positions in research, education and hospital care. In 2017 Peter was appointed to the role of Medical Director at Weston Area Health Trust where he played a key role in developing models of integrated care, reconfiguring services across Bristol and North Somerset and readying the organisation for a successful merger with University Hospitals Bristol. Since the merger he worked as a Deputy Medical Director for the large organisation focusing on the delivery of safe and effective COVID-19 care and the restoration of non-COVID services for the Trust and the local Healthcare system.

Melanie Whitfield - Chief People Officer

Melanie is an accomplished HR leader and coach with many years of experience leading on significant programmes of change and people strategy in both the private and public sector.

With many years of organisational HR experience, including Board level experience within Private Equity and Public and Charity sectors, Melanie joined the national team at NHS England and Improvement as one of the founding authors of the NHS People Plan. She "got the bug" for health some 6 years ago and has worked in both the community and acute setting alongside the Department of Health and National Regulator.

Melanie began her career in retail working for some of the best known brands on the high street including The John Lewis Partnership , Sainsbury's and Boots. She has continued both her formal academic studies and professional development and has a particular interest in the value and impact of team coaching. In joining the Trust Melanie expressed her wish to support all staff to be the best they could be, by helping create the kind of environment where everyone can thrive and in doing so, provide the best possible care to the community we serve.

Within SFT's executive team, she is the responsible leader for our Operational HR Services, Resourcing, Organisation design and Development, Education and Communication strategies alongside our Health and Safety and Occupational Health services. Outside of work she has a very understanding husband, two adult children who keep returning from university and always with their washing! Swimming at our Odstock health and fitness centre, yoga and rowing.

Mark Ellis - Interim Chief Finance Officer

Mark has worked in the Trust as Deputy Chief Finance Officer and was appointed as Interim Chief Finance Officer in August 2022.

Lisa Thomas - Interim Chief Operating Officer

Lisa joined the Trust in September 2017 as Chief Finance Officer and was appointed as Interim Chief Operating Officer in August 2022. Lisa has over 18 years' finance experience in a number of NHS organisations having started her career in 1999 on the Graduate Financial Management Training scheme. She was previously Deputy Director of Finance at Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, and prior to that she spent time working in Basingstoke, Winchester and Gloucestershire NHS organisations in senior roles. Lisa lives in Devices.

Judy Dyos - Chief Nursing Officer

Judy joined the Trust from Isle of Wight NHS Trust where she was formerly Deputy Director of Nursing and was instrumental in the Isle of Wight Trust obtaining a CQC rating of Good in many areas. Prior to that she was the Lead for Clinical Assurance and Quality Governance at University Hospital Southampton

Nick Marsden

Nick Marsden joined the Trust in January 2014. Before joining Salisbury Foundation Trust he was a Non-Executive Director at Southampton and a vice chairman. He has an engineering Ph.D and commercial experience having held several senior executive roles at IBM before becoming Senior Vice President for Service at Danka Europe. He lives near Andover in Hampshire

Rakhee Aggarwal

Rakhee Aggarwal joined the Trust in January 2020 on a 3 year term. Rakhee has been a mental health nurse since 1999; she has a BSc in Behavioural Studies (Psychology); and a Masters in Teaching and Learning for Health Professionals. She has worked for the University of the West of England for the past 15 years as a Senior Lecturer; Associate Head of Nursing and Midwifery - Mental Health and Learning Disability Nursing; Associate Head of Nursing and Midwifery - Adult Nursing; and as Associate Head of Nursing and Midwifery - Continuing Professional Development. She is leading and developing the CPD Education provision for the NHS and private and voluntary sectors. In addition to her work at the University she has been a Non-Executive Director with the South Western Ambulance Trust since 2017.

Tania Baker

Tania Baker was CEO at Dr Foster the health analytics company until March 2015. She played a key role in developing the business especially in international markets which led to the sale of the business to Telstra Health. Prior to that Tania held senior appointments in the private healthcare sector and was Commercial Director in the team that set up the Aviva Health insurance business. Since leaving Dr Foster she has been working with Aviva Health and Vitality Health to establish a new joint venture to commission healthcare using a value based approach. She lives in Fordingbridge with her family.

Dr David Buckle

Dr David Buckle joined the Trust in January 2020 on a 3 year term. He is MB BS, DRCOG and MRCGP qualified and is a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners. David was a practising GP until 2017 whilst latterly working part-time (until May 2018) as the Medical Director for Herts Valley Clinical Commissioning Group, where he was the Director of General Practice development. He has previously held other roles comprising various positions within Berkshire East and Berkshire West Primary Care Trusts and with NHS Berkshire West Primary Care Trust. He currently has a portfolio of Non-Executive appointments, as the President of the Society for Assistance of Medical Families; Non-Executive Director with Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Non-Executive Director with East and North Hertfordshire NHS Hospitals Trust; and Vice Chair (clinical) of the Stroke Association.

Eiri Jones

Eiri Jones joined the Trust in November for a 3 year period. Eiri is a Registered Nurse; has an MA in Professional Development; and is a QSIR Practitioner. Eiri has clinical, managerial and executive leadership knowledge and skills gained during a career spanning over 40 years. Eiri has held senior and board positions in a range of Trusts in England and Wales and has also held regional (Trust Development Authority), national (Welsh Government and State of Qatar) and regulatory (Nursing and Midwifery Council) appointments. Eiri is currently contracted to Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board as a part-time Programme Director. Other contracts were in leading the implementation of GIRFT in the South West of England; as an interim Quality Manager at NHS Crawley CCG; and interim Director of Quality Governance at Barts Health NHS Trust. Her last permanent job was as the Director of Nursing for the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (2012 – 2014).

Paul Kemp

Paul Kemp joined the Trust in February 2015 having completed 34 years in industry, initially as a development chemist before concentrating on finance, IT and business change leadership. Paul has worked for a number of large multinational companies, including British Airways and Cobham plc, the multinational aerospace and defence company. In 2018, Paul was appointed as a Justice of the Peace, sitting on the Dorset bench and in 2019 took up the role of Trustee and Honorary Treasurer for the Magistrate’s Association, a charity supporting the magistracy across England and Wales. Paul lives in St Leonards, near Ringwood.

Michael von Bertele OBE

Michael qualified in medicine in 1979 and joined the Army as a junior doctor. He trained in occupational and environmental medicine, becoming a consultant in 1992. He served in several operational theatres, including commanding the medical battalion of the UN Protection Force in Croatia in 1993, for which he was awarded the OBE for services to peacekeeping. He was the chief medical planner in the UK Ministry of Defence, and from 2006-2009 he oversaw a transformation in the management of injured service personnel. In 2009 he became Director General of the Army Medical Services. He retired from the Army in 2012. In November 2013 Michael became the Humanitarian Director for Save the Children International and served until November 2015.

Michael lives in Salisbury. He joined the Trust as a non-executive director on 1 November 2016.

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