Vice-Chancellor's Health Advisory Group
Professor John Latham CBE
Vice-Chancellor and CEO
John is Vice-Chancellor and CEO of the Coventry University Group. John is a double graduate of the University and has a background in information technology and telecommunications. He previously worked for several private sector organisations including JHP Group, Jaguar Cars and BT - including a period as a sponsored Research Fellow based at Martlesham Research Labs, Ipswich. In 2015, John was awarded an Honorary Lifetime Fellowship of the British Computer Society for his services to the IT industry.
John has held high-profile roles at regional, national and European levels promoting innovation, technology and economic development. To that end he is an Advisor to the Australian based Software provider TechnologyOne and also Chair’s the Universities UK/JISC Software Negotiations and Strategy Group. He is a Director for the University Alliance mission group of universities and is a Non-Executive Director of Qualifications Wales. John is additionally an advisory board member of the UK’s National Growth Board which is responsible for the oversight of the remaining UK based European Structural Funds Programme and most recently became a Member for the Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) for the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care System. Among his other various roles he is also a Panel Member for the Singapore Governments Home Team Academy Operation. Earlier in his careeer he has spent periods of time working overseas including roles in France, Spain, Portugal and Germany as well as being a long-term advisor to the European Commission.
John is an Extraordinary Professor in the area of enterprise and entrepreneurship at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, where in 2019 he received an Honorary Doctorate for his services to UK Higher Education. In the same year he was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours with a CBE for his Services to Higher Education.
As a Non-Executive Director of the HEE Board, John Chaired the Audit and Risk Committee and was a member of the Remuneration Committee. He worked in partnership with HEE’s Regional Director in the East of England to ensure the Board maintained strong links with regional activities. Following the transition of HEE to NHSE, John is now a Non-Executive Director for the NHSE Workforce Training and Education Committee.
Most recently, John has been appointed by the Minister for Health and Social Care as an Independent Panel Member on the Advisory Assessment Panels for the Recruitment of members to NHS Bodies.
Professor Deborah Sturdy RN MSc (Econ), CBE
Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care
Deborah was appointed as the first Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care in 2021. She has held a number of previous roles including senior posts in practice, research and policy, in both social care services and the NHS. She was appointed the expert nurse on the Gosport Independent Panel the report of which was laid before Parliament in 2018.
She is a passionate care sector advocate and believes the workforce is its greatest asset. Developing careers, opening new pathways of opportunity and boosting recognition of care colleagues’ skills, value and expertise are, in her view, vital to the future success of the profession.
She holds three Visiting Chairs in Nursing at Manchester Metropolitan, Buckinghamshire New Universities and Coventry University. Deborah has written numerous papers for publications and presented at national and international meetings.
She was awarded a CBE in the 2023 Honours list and an OBE in the 2017. She is a Fellow of the QNI and RCN and received the British Geriatric President’s Medal for her contribution to older people nursing the first nurse to receive this.
Professor Liz Hughes
Medical Education Expert – Apprenticeship Pathway
Professor Elizabeth Hughes MBE is Medical Director in the Workforce Training and Education Directorate of NHS England with specific responsibility for Undergraduate Medical and Dental education. She was previously the Director and Dean of Education and Quality for Health Education England for London and South East.
Alongside this she has other national roles for NHS England including overseeing education in Pharmacy, Diagnostics and Healthcare Science together with a focus on international medical education. In addition, she leads on academic training and research.
Professor Elizabeth Hughes is also a Consultant in Chemical Pathology and Metabolic Medicine at Sandwell General Hospital, West Bromwich and Honorary Professor at the Universities of Aston, Warwick, Bolton and Coventry and visiting Professor at Worcester University. Elizabeth is a national expert in the treatment of inherited lipid disorders and is one of the Founder members of the national charity HEARTUK with which she has worked extensively with multi professional healthcare professionals and patients.
Professor Patrick Mitchell
Vice Chair, Framework
Patrick Mitchell has worked in health services both in the NHS and California for over 38 years in a range of operational leadership roles. He more recently has focused his interests in the education sector working at Health Education England firstly as Director of National Programmes and then Regional Director South of England.
He moved from senior roles in medical and dental education at the Department of Health, previously worked as Chief Operating Officer/Deputy Chief Executive at St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust, South London and Director for Operations at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust. He also worked for PwC in their California practice in San Francisco.
His last role in Health Education England as Director of Innovation, Digital and Transformation covered a wide portfolio including NHS Knowledge Management and Library Services, the National Workforce Transformation Programme, the NHS Centre for Education Technologies, the NHS Digital Academy and the Blended Learning Degree Programme.
He oversaw the widely acclaimed Topol Review, led by Dr Eric Topol of the Scripps Institute in San Diego, which investigated the workforce, education and training implications of the introduction of digital technologies.
He currently provides a range of workforce advisory and consultancy services and is Vice Chair of Framework, a large homeless charity covering the East Midlands based in Nottingham.
Professor Andy Hardy
Chief Executive Officer, UHCW
Andy is Chief Executive Officer of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW), one of the largest tertiary acute Trusts in the country, with an annual turnover in excess of £850m.
Andy was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2010. For the six years prior to that he was Chief Finance Officer of UHCW, as well as Deputy Chief Executive Officer from 2008 – 2010.
In addition, Andy sits on a number of external Boards including:
- West Midlands Academic Health Science Network (WMAHSN)
- Warwick Business School Faculty Advisory Board
- NHS Elect
- Beamtree Global Impact Committee
- Chair of University Hospitals Association
- Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies
In January 2016 Andy was appointed Professor of Industry at the University of Warwick, and in 2022 awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration at Coventry University in recognition of his leadership and significant contribution to healthcare provision across Coventry and Warwickshire.
Andy has served as:
- CIPFA President
- HFMA President
- Chair of A.U.H. Finance Directors
Andy is also a Director of Albany Theatre Trust, Coventry; and a Trustee of ExtraCare.
Professor Brian Dolan, OBE, FFNMRCSI
Mental health and general nurse and Director of Health Service 360
Brian Dolan is a dual qualified mental health and general nurse and worked in emergency care as well as in academic General Practice. He is Director of Health Service 360, UK, and works in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and Ireland providing leadership and service improvement programs.
He has published over 70 papers and is author/editor of seven books, mainly on emergency care and leadership. He is currently working on books on deconditioning, and emergency nursing (4th edn) and on the ‘Ward Managers Survival Guide’, all of which will be published in late 2023/2024.
As well as Professor at Coventry University, he is Honorary Professor of Leadership in Healthcare at the University of Salford, and Honorary Adjunct Professor of Innovation in Healthcare at Bond University, Queensland.
Brian is the originator of the Last 1000 Days and EndPJparalysis social movements which are about valuing patients’ time and encouraging early mobilisation of hospitalised patients and in 2018 was voted by the public as one of the top 20 most influential people in the history of the NHS.
In the 2019 Queen’s New Year’s Honours List, Brian was awarded an OBE ‘For Services to Nursing and Emergency Care’ and, also in 2019, was awarded Fellow by Election of the Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
In 2021, he became Honorary President of AGILE: the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists network for physios working with older people - the first nurse to do so.
Professor Julie Screaton
South London ECB & Chief People Officer
Julie was appointed as Director of Workforce and Organisational Development in June 2017 and became Chief People Officer in 2018. Julie has wide ranging experience of leading workforce and organisational development teams in the NHS, having worked at regional and trust level. In her previous position, as Regional Director, London and the South East for Health Education England, Julie was responsible for £1.4 billion of investment in education, training and workforce development across London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
Professor Dame Eileen Sills 
Pro-Vice-Chancellor’s Health Envoy
Eileen has been a nurse for 42 years. For 22 years, she was chief nurse across three different trusts, spending 15 years as chief nurse and deputy chief executive at Guy's and St Thomas' (GSST) NHS Foundation Trust.
Eileen has a reputation for strong, visible, clinical leadership and is known for her relentless drive to improve patient and staff experience, with a focus on the small things that make the biggest difference.
Most notably, was the work she led on dementia and protecting the most vulnerable, not just at GSTT, but also across London; the film she developed and led – called Barbara's Story - gained international recognition.
Most recently Eileen has had the opportunity to be the Chief Nurse at NHS Kent & Medway ICB, gaining valuable experience with commissioning, developing a new organisation and working with social care partners. Eileen is delighted to be back at the University as a Health Envoy to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Health and Care.
Professor Danielle Oum 
Coventry & Warwickshire ICB
Danielle has a strong leadership background in strategic development, stakeholder engagement and transformational change spanning the public, private and voluntary sectors. In addition to her role as Chair for Coventry and Warwickshire ICB, she is also the Chair of Audit at Healthwatch England, and Chair of Aquarius and board member of Recovery Focus, an expert group of charities, which includes Aquarius, inspiring recovery together by providing mental health, substance misuse and domestic violence services.
Previously Danielle has held the positions of Chair at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust, Chair at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Healthwatch Birmingham and Solihull, Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and Walsall Housing Group.
Danielle is committed to tackling inequalities and excited by the potential of ICSs to improve health services and promote healthy lives for the whole of the populations they serve.
Professor Mark Radford CBE
National Director for Intensive Support, NHSE & Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, England
Professor Mark Radford is currently National Director of Intensive Support, and Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for England and was formerly the Chief Nurse of Health Education England. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mark led the national NHS vaccine workforce program ensuring the success in phase 1 delivery of 15m vaccinations. The program recruited and trained over 250k people including 90k clinicians and 70k volunteers in a few months to launch one of the world’s fastest programs. He also led the deployment of Student nurses in the pandemic response waves 1 and 2, with 71 Universities in England.
As Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for England, Mark supports the Chief Nursing Officer in ensuring the NHS workforce is fit for the future. This includes recruitment and retention, skills development, maintaining the quality of management and leadership, tackling inequality and breaking down barriers, ensuring places of work are rewarding, positive and filled with opportunity, and enabling more volunteers to support front-line staff.
Throughout his clinical career, Mark has maintained his academic interests. He has been involved in multiple research projects looking at the roles of nursing in advanced practice, gender disparity and pay, as well as big data analysis of nursing and retention, among others. He has also published five books on emergency and perioperative surgery throughout his career. He is also a Professor of Nursing at Birmingham City University and Coventry University, with research covering emergency care models, advanced practice, staffing, risk modelling, clinical decision-making, expertise and sociological issues in healthcare.
Mark was honoured with a CBE in The Queen’s New Year Honours 2022 list.
Professor Ann-Marie Cannaby 
Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Health and Care
is the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Health at Coventry University. Prior to this role she worked in a collaborative group structure as the Chief Nurse at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and Chief Nurse and Deputy CEO at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust. Ann-Marie’s clinical background is grounded in caring for patients with medical conditions. She has worked within large University Hospitals in the UK and has held a variety of clinical, research and managerial roles including Chief Operating Officer.
For the last 17 years Ann-Marie has held executives roles, gaining a wealth of leadership experience across the NHS and internationally, including Chief Nursing Officer at Hamad Medical Corporation the public health system in Qatar. Ann-Marie has maintained an international nursing perspective, and has been involved in nursing leadership and quality projects in Holland, China, Egypt, Qatar, Malawi, Australia and New Zealand
Ann-Marie remains actively involved in research and education and holds a first degree, a Masters degree and a PhD. She held substantive Professorial positions and is now a Visiting Professor at Birmingham City University and Staffordshire University. She continues to teach on topics including transformational leadership and global policy. Her research interest focus on quality across nursing services including how technology (digital and robotic) can improve nursing care and patient outcomes. Ann-Mare is a member of the Health Advisory Board at British Telecom.
Professor Sir Ciarán Devane 
Chair of the Irish health service
Sir Ciarán Devane is the Director of the Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations at Coventry University. He is also Chair of the Irish health service (the HSE) and a trustee of Friends of Europe and of the British-Irish Association.
A chemical engineer by training, Ciarán had a twenty year career in industry and management consulting before becoming chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support and subsequently chief executive of the British Council. He has served on the Board of NHS England, and of Social Finance Limited. In 2015 he was knighted for services to cancer patients.
Professor Oonagh Smyth 
CEO Skills for Care
Oonagh Smyth is Chief Executive Officer of Skills for Care, which is the workforce development charity for adult social care in England. She has extensive experience working with organisations across the social care sector and prior to starting at Skills for Care in 2020, Oonagh was the Executive Director of Strategy and Influence in Mencap. She is also a former Co-Chair of the Care and Support Alliance and an accredited executive coach.
Richard Webb 
Corporate Director for Health and Adult Services at North Yorkshire Council
Richard Webb is Corporate Director for Health and Adult Services for the new North Yorkshire Council and has worked in this role across the County since 2014. As such, he leads on public health and adult social care, as well as partnerships with the NHS and with supported housing.
A graduate in politics from Durham University, Richard started his working life as an NHS national management trainee in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1992, with assignments in a large teaching hospital, as well as in the commissioning of mental health and substance misuse services.
He subsequently worked in service provision and commissioning in Gateshead and Stockton on Tees, spending 10 years in the latter, including 2 pioneering joint roles across local government and the NHS.
Since 2005, he has been a local government corporate director; first in Telford and Wrekin; then in Sheffield; and more recently in North Yorkshire. At various points his director responsibilities have included housing, community cohesion/safety/development, libraries, culture, leisure and regulatory services.
Nationally, he spent 9 years as a trustee for the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and is the current co-chair of the County Councils Network Directors of Adult Social Services and Directors of Public Health forum.
