Who we are

Caroline Dapre

Head of the Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive’s Office

NHS Providers

Caroline is responsible for managing the office of the chief executive and deputy chief executive. On a day-to-day basis she helps our interim chief executive, Saffron Cordery, to manage her inbox and workflow. She also leads our executive support team (who provide administrative support to EMT) and assists EMT with their collective priorities and strategic meetings.

Caroline Harrison

Director of Corporate Services and Finance

NHS Providers

Caroline is our director of corporate services, overseeing the finance, HR, IT and CRM teams at NHS Providers. Her team ensures the organisation has the robust systems, resources, and infrastructure in place to support our work and deliver value for our members. Caroline has experience at senior leadership team and board level across the public and not-for-profit sectors, with a focus on operational excellence and strategic delivery.

Charlotte Lillford-Wildman

Head of Policy and Analysis

NHS Providers

Charlotte is head of policy and analysis. She leads our research and analysis function which is responsible for gathering the evidence base for our policy and influencing work. She also oversees the workforce, health inequalities, and regulation policy portfolios. Charlotte joined NHS Providers in April 2025, having previously worked for the civil service as a policy and strategy professional for over a decade, most recently working for the Department of Health and Social Care.

Daniel Elkeles

Chief Executive

NHS Providers

Daniel is our chief executive, joining NHS Providers in May 2025. He brings over 30 years of NHS experience, having started his career on the NHS management training scheme in 1995. Daniel has held senior roles across acute, community, commissioning and regional settings, and has been an accountable officer since 2012. Before joining NHS Providers, Daniel was chief executive of London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, where he led major improvements in organisational culture and staff experience, resulting in the trust’s best-ever NHS staff survey results. He previously served as chief executive of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, where he oversaw the creation of a combined acute and community trust and helped lead the development of integrated care. Daniel is passionate about improving workplace culture and inclusivity, and is committed to supporting provider leaders across the NHS.

David Williams

Head of Policy and Strategy

NHS Providers

David is our head of policy and strategy. He has shared leadership of NHS Providers’ policy team, and oversees our policy work on finances, system working, integration and governance. He joined NHS Providers in 2018, initially as our policy advisor for finances. Prior to that he worked as a journalist, specialising in health policy.

Dimple Keen

Head of Development and Engagement

NHS Providers

Dimple is head of development and engagement, overseeing NHS Providers' events and conferences, member networks and commercial offer. She provides strategic direction regarding developing our offer to meet member needs and builds relationships with partners to harness their potential to support members.

Ferelith Gaze

Head of Policy and Public Affairs

NHS Providers

Ferelith is head of policy and public affairs, jointly leading the policy and strategy directorate at NHS Providers. She oversees our quality of care and mental health policy portfolios, ensuring a patient-focused and cross-sector approach to our work. Ferelith also leads our engagement with ministers, parliamentarians and stakeholders, as well as supporting members' political insight. Her previous experience includes public affairs consultancy and reputation and crisis management.

Isabel Lawicka

Director of Policy and Strategy

NHS Providers

Isabel is director of policy and strategy. She holds responsibility for our policy, public affairs and analysis teams, who lead on our influencing work. She also helps to lead strategy and development across the organisation. Prior to joining NHS Providers, Isabel worked for a health policy consultancy and held a number of patient advocacy and policy roles in London and Edinburgh.

Jenny Reindorp

Co-Director of Development and Engagement

NHS Providers

Jenny is director of development and engagement, a role she job-shares with Miriam Deakin. They oversee our support offer for trusts and co-lead a directorate of around 40 talented event management, training and development and programme management professionals. Jenny takes a particular lead on our portfolio of programmes on race and health inequalities, collaboration in systems, quality improvement and digital transformation, which all share learning across the provider sector through a range of events and written resources. Jenny has a background in membership organisations and experience of leading programmes both nationally and within NHS trusts.

Leah Knowles

Head of People and Culture

NHS Providers

Leah is head of people and culture and oversees our approach to our people strategy and organisational culture. Her role is focused on shaping, maintaining the charity’s culture, and managing its people-related functions including HR, employee engagement, EDI and wellbeing. She ensures our values and strategies are reflected in our people practices, creating a positive and supportive work environment.

Miriam Deakin

Co-Director of Development and Engagement

NHS Providers

Miriam is director of development and engagement, a role she job-shares with Jenny Reindorp. Miriam works with Jenny to oversee our support offer for trusts and support a directorate of around forty talented event management, training and development and programme management professionals. Miriam takes a particular lead for events, networks, board development, our governor support offer (GovernWell) and our partnerships programme to help bring trust leaders together with partners who can help find solutions to some of the challenges they face. Miriam is also our executive team sponsor for Proud Providers, our LGBTQ+ staff network.

Nikki Coleman

Head of Development and Engagement

NHS Providers

Nikki is head of development and engagement, overseeing and strategically directing to our NHS Providers' board, governor and aspirant leaders development programmes. Our development programmes core focus is on the fundamentals of good governance along with the knowledge, skills and relationships required to operate as a unitary board. Nikki joined the organisation in 2014, prior to that she worked at the Royal College of Physicians managing their patient and public involvement unit.

Orla Fee

Director of Communications

NHS Providers

Orla is our director of communications, overseeing the teams who deliver all of NHS Providers’ communications channels including our media relations, website, digital and marketing communications. Her team are responsible for ensuring NHS Providers is a strong and credible voice on behalf of our members and a trusted go-to partner for media outlets. Orla is a communications professional with experience at senior leadership team and board level in healthcare, human rights and international development.

Preeti Kathrecha

Head of Development and Engagement - Programmes

NHS Providers

Preeti provides strategic oversight across our portfolio of member development programmes: Digital Boards and Digital ICS - empowering boards to lead digital transformation; Race Equality and Health Inequalities - helping members integrate equity into core business; Provider Collaboration - to support members to maximise the potential of greater collaboration; Peer Support programmes and Trusts in Systems programmes looking at effective delivery models at neighbourhood, place and system level. Preeti also leads on business development, bids and funding, and shaping new programs to meet the evolving needs of our members.

Terence Stephenson

Chair

NHS Providers

Professor Sir Terence Stephenson is Nuffield Professor of Child Health at UCL’s Great Ormond Street Institute. He chaired the UK GMC (2015 to 2018), the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (2012 to 2014), and was president of the Royal College of Paediatrics (2009 to 2012), and chair of the Health Research Authority until January 2025 and became chair of NHS Providers in February 2025. He was knighted in 2018 and has been a senior NIHR investigator since 2022. He has authored over 330 publications and seven textbooks, with £15m in research funding. He’s held academic and leadership roles in Nottingham and London, and has been an elected honorary fellow of 11 international colleges or academies.

Saffron Cordery

Deputy Chief Executive

NHS Providers

Saffron has been NHS Providers deputy chief executive since 2018, and between June 2022 and February 2023 was interim chief executive. She has worked in the healthcare sector since 2007. Saffron has extensive experience in policy development, influencing and communications, and was previously head of public affairs at the Local Government Association. Her early career focused on influencing EU legislation and policy development, and she started working life in adult and community education. She has a degree in Modern Languages from the University of Manchester.

Sally Mussellwhite

Head of Communications and Marketing

NHS Providers

Sally is our head of communications and marketing, overseeing the marketing, communications, design, and digital teams. She provides strategic direction for our external and internal communications, digital channels, and marketing campaigns. Sally's team is responsible for NHS Providers' website, social media channels, publications and resources, member communications, and branding and design.

Susan Bahl

Head of Media

NHS Providers

Susan is the head of media at NHS Providers. She oversees our busy press office which acts as the ‘gateway’ between NHS Providers and journalists from leading broadcast, print and online media outlets. Susan leads the media team, providing support to our members and keeping them informed of key media activity.

Vaani Nirantharakumar

Head of Finance

NHS Providers

Vaani is the Head of Finance at NHS Providers, playing a strategic and operational role in providing financial leadership and ensuring robust financial management. She ensures strong financial controls, compliance with statutory regulations, and the effectiveness of financial systems and processes.