Our Trust Board

The Trust board of directors is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation

Alan Downey

Group Chair

Alan Downey took up his role as Group Chair in April 2026.

Alan brings extensive experience of leadership and governance across the NHS and wider public sector. He has previously served as Chair of York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Chair of South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where he led boards through periods of improvement focused on patient safety and service quality. Earlier in his career he spent eight years in the civil service before joining professional services firm KPMG, where he led the firm’s public sector practice advising organisations across government, healthcare, policing, universities and local government.

Murray Macdonald

Vice Chair (HUTH) NED (NLAG)

Murray, who lives near Louth, has served in a range of NHS non-executive roles across community health, commissioning, the East of England Ambulance Service, and the Lincolnshire ICB Finance Committee. He is also a highly experienced Chief Executive in the housing sector.

Lyn Simpson

Interim Group Chief Executive

Lyn joined the organisation in July 2025 on secondment from North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust.

She has many years’ experience at clinical and executive director level, working within the NHS at local, regional and national levels.

Lyn has served as an executive board director since 1992 across a wide range of NHS sectors. Her roles have included Executive Director of Patient Services at Newcastle Hospitals Trust; Executive Regional Nurse and Director of Operations and Workforce within Strategic Health Authorities; and national Director of NHS Operations at both the Department of Health and NHS England.

She has also worked as Regional Director for the North at the NHS Trust Development Authority, which subsequently became NHS Improvement.

Having trained as a nurse, health visitor and midwife, Lyn remains passionate about the delivery of safe, high-quality patient care, alongside the development and support of staff and services.

Heather McNair

Interim Group Chief Nurse

Heather joined the organisation in November 2025 on secondment from Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board

She has many years’ experience at clinical and executive director level, working within acute NHS organisations.

Heather has served as an executive board director since 2011. Firstly as Chief Nurse at Barnsley Hospital then latterly at York and Scarborough.

Having trained as a nurse, and midwife, Heather remains passionate about the patient experience and the delivery of safe, high-quality patient care.

Emma Sayner

Group Chief Financial Officer

Profile to follow.

Dr Kate Wood

Group Chief Medical Officer

Dr Wood studied medicine at the University of Glasgow, graduating in 1994. She began working in anaesthetics in 1999, training in Hull, during which time she held Senior House Officer and Registrar posts at Grimsby Hospital. She enjoyed her time in Grimsby so much that she returned in 2006, when she was appointed as a Consultant Anaesthetist.

Since then, Dr Wood has held a number of senior leadership roles, including Lead for Obstetric Anaesthesia in Grimsby, Clinical Director, Associate Medical Director, Deputy Medical Director and Acting Medical Director.

Samuel Peate

Group Chief Delivery Officer

David Sharif

Group Director of Assurance

David studied Management Sciences at the University of Warwick before joining the NHS in Manchester in 1991, later entering the regional finance training scheme in the West Midlands. He qualified as a CIPFA accountant and worked extensively across the acute sector in the region before joining KPMG in 2002.

During his time at KPMG, David worked as both an internal and external auditor within the NHS and on a range of projects to strengthen governance across the NHS and wider public sector. He left KPMG in 2020 to join King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, before joining NHS Humber Health Partnership in March 2024.

Julie Beilby

Non-Executive Director NLaG

Julie has a strong passion for public sector services and believes they make a significant contribution to the happiness, health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

She has worked in the public sector for 40 years, fulfilling a broad range of roles within a single local authority, most recently serving as Chief Executive of a district council for 11 years.

Julie has been actively engaged with the health sector through a variety of platforms, including involvement in the development of an Integrated Care System. She believes this creates opportunities for new dialogues focused on the wider determinants of health and wellbeing. Julie is experienced in exploring stakeholder perspectives to achieve shared understanding and agreement on a way forward.

Jane Hawkard

Non Executive Director HUTH

Jane joined Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in August 2023 and brings 30 years’ NHS experience, having worked in finance across acute, mental health, community and commissioning settings.

She previously served as Chief Executive of East Riding CCG for five years and Finance Director of North Yorkshire CCG for three years before taking up her non-executive role.

Dr David Sulch

Non Executive Director HUTH

David joined Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in March 2024. He is a Consultant Physician specialising in stroke medicine and continues to practise clinically. He is also a Medical Examiner and runs a private medicolegal practice.

David has extensive experience in medical leadership, including serving as Chief Medical Officer at Medway NHS Foundation Trust between 2018 and 2021. His key areas of focus during this period included mortality, quality of care, infection control and patient flow.