Who we are
NHS Providers is the membership organisation for NHS hospital, mental health, community and ambulance services that treat patients and service users in the English NHS.
We help NHS foundation trusts and trusts to deliver high-quality, patient-focused care by enabling them to learn from each other, acting as their public voice and helping shape the systems they operate in.
NHS trusts in England collectively account for £132bn of annual expenditure and employ 1.4 million people.
What we do
We support and advocate on behalf of our member trusts – at this time of significant change and challenges for the NHS, our work is key.
We deliver value to members through influencing activities, support, events and training, media work and communications, such as:
- Shaping and influencing financial, policy and regulatory frameworks impacting on members' day-to-day work and future development through policy consultations and horizon scanning.
- Building effective relationships with key stakeholders in central government, with regulators and across healthcare.
- Championing member interests and raising their media profiles in a positive way.
- Helping providers drive improvement through effective shared development of best practice, support and learning for board members, governors and executive colleagues.
- Creating networking opportunities.
Our strategy and values
Our strategic objectives drive our organisation in everything we do. These are:
- Influence – shaping the environment and culture our members operate in – with a dedicated focus on finances, quality, workforce, governance, regulation, digital transformation, integration and system working.
- Voice – acting as the collective voice of NHS providers working in local systems, reflecting the diversity of our membership, and championing their interests in the media, government, the NHS and wider health and care community.
- Support – helping our members and local system partners drive improvement and innovation through effective, shared development, support and learning.
- Excellent organisation – providing outstanding value for money to our members, creating a supportive staff environment and continually improving, driven by our values.
Our key priorities for 2025/26:
- Shape and support NHS reform.
- Advocate for trust leaders in all sectors of our membership, across hospital, mental health, community and ambulance.
- Develop and improve our organisation to maximise our effectiveness.
Our four values reflect those of our member trusts, and of the NHS, focused on how we work and interact with each other, our members and partners.
They underpin all our work and help us measure individual and organisational performance:
- Respectful – acting with honesty, compassion, openness, and integrity and recognising individual the contributions.
- Inclusive – celebrating diversity and seeking out different viewpoints. We call out and tackle discrimination.
- Collaborative – working as a team internally, and with members, stakeholders and partners to deliver positive results.
- Effective – delivering professional, high-quality member-led work which supports the health and care service to deliver value and positive change for patients.
You can see this in our strategic triangle:

Our leadership
We have around 100 members of staff across four broad areas: communications, development and engagement, policy, and corporate services.
Our senior management team is below.

Caroline Dapre
Head of the Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive’s Office
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Caroline Harrison
Director of Corporate Services and Finance
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Charlotte Lillford-Wildman
Head of Policy and Analysis
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Daniel Elkeles
Chief Executive
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David Williams
Head of Policy and Strategy
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Dimple Keen
Head of Development and Engagement
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Ferelith Gaze
Head of Policy and Public Affairs
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Isabel Lawicka
Director of Policy and Strategy
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Jenny Reindorp
Co-Director of Development and Engagement
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Leah Knowles
Head of People and Culture
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Miriam Deakin
Co-Director of Development and Engagement
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Nikki Coleman
Head of Development and Engagement
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Orla Fee
Director of Communications
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Preeti Kathrecha
Head of Development and Engagement - Programmes
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Terence Stephenson
Chair
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Saffron Cordery
Deputy Chief Executive
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Sally Mussellwhite
Head of Communications and Marketing
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Susan Bahl
Head of Media
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Vaani Nirantharakumar
Head of Finance
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Our board
To be an effective membership organisation, we need to make sure we identify member needs and meet them. We must also be fully accountable to our members in all that we do.
The way we are governed reflects this commitment – we are led by our members. We have an active board of 20 chairs and chief executives elected by member trusts.
Acute trust chairs and chief executives
- Dame Linda Pollard, chair, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (June 2025).
- Nick Carver, chair, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (June 2026).
- Professor Richard Scothon, chair, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (June 2027).
- Jan Ross, chief executive, The Walton Centre NHS FT (June 2025).
- Dr Birju Bartoli, chief executive, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (June 2027).
- Len Richards, chief executive, Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Foundation Trust (June 2027).
- Professor Meghana Pandit, chief executive, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (June 2027).
- Richard Mitchell, chief executive, University of Leicester NHS Foundation Trust and University of Northamptonshire Group (June 2027)
Mental health trust chairs and chief executives
- Selina Ullah, chair, Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (June 2025).
- Sharon Mays, chair, Sheffield health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust (June 2026).
- David Jennings, chair, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (June 2027).
- Karen Taylor, chief executive, Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (June 2026).
- Therese Patten, chief executive, Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust (June 2027).
- Chris Oliver, chief executive, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (June 2027).
Ambulance trust chairs and chief executives
- Andy Trotter, chair, London Ambulance Service (June 2027).
- Richard Henderson, chief executive, East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (June 2026).
Community trust chairs and chief executives
- Mary Elford, chair, Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, East of England (June 2027).
- Elliot Howard-Jones, chief executive, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust, East of England (June 2026).
Our representatives
- Professor Sir Terence Stephenson, chair.
- Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive.
- Orla Fee, director of communications.
- Miriam Deakin, co-director of development and engagement.
- Jenny Reindorp, co-director of development and engagement.
- Caroline Harrison, director of corporate services and finance.
- Isabel Lawicka, director of policy and strategy.