Biography
Eileen was appointed to the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust in November 2022. She is a highly experienced chairman and has chaired a number of large, complex public and third sector organisations, including acute, specialised mental health and primary care trusts.
In 2001 she established Salford PCT, which became one of the highest performing PCTs in the country. Latterly, she was chairman of NHS Greater Manchester, the largest PCT cluster in England. By April 2013, NHS Greater Manchester had facilitated the establishment of 12 CCGs and the safe handover of PCT services to new receiving organisations in the ten Greater Manchester Metropolitan Borough councils. From 2014 to 2022, Eileen served as chair of the East Lancashire NHS Trust.
All of Eileen’s NHS roles have involved partnership working with the private and third sectors and local government. She has always ensured that perspectives of patients and communities contribute to service developments, and has championed a number of whole systems innovative service re-design programmes, including mental health, children’s and women’s health, urgent care and the Greater Manchester Healthier Together programme.
Over the years Eileen has been a regular contributor to development programmes for NEDs and aspirant executive directors and to national conferences on governance and leadership. Eileen was awarded an MBE in recognition of her contribution to the NHS. She is professor in public health at the University of Salford where she has an international research profile. Her research is used widely throughout the world.
