Our Trust Board

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

Murray Macdonald

Interim Group Chair

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.

Matt Powls

Interim Group Chief Delivery Officer

Matt Powls is responsible for leading operational performance and delivery across NHS Humber Health Partnership.

A highly experienced NHS leader, Matt has held senior executive roles including Chief Operating Officer, Managing Director, Director of Recovery, Executive Director of Place and Director of Commissioning across large acute, community and system settings. He has a strong track record of improving performance through clinical engagement, financial discipline, and a clear focus on patient safety, people and organisational culture as the core measures of success.

Originally from Goole, Matt’s connection to our organisation is both professional and personal; every one of its hospitals has cared for him or members of his family. He brings a deep commitment to serving the communities in which he grew up and to building a culture of teamwork, trust and visible leadership across the partnership.

Andy Haywood

Group Chief Strategy, Partnerships & Digital Officer

Profile to follow.

Simon Nearney

Group Chief People Officer

Simon joined the organisation as Interim Director of People in January 2023 and took up the role of Group Chief People Officer in November 2023. He also holds the position of Director of Workforce for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, where he has been in post since 2012.

Previously, Simon was Director of Human Resources at Leicestershire County Council and has held a number of senior HR and organisational development roles across large public sector organisations. He has a strong track record of transforming services, leading major organisational change programmes and improving customer experience.

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.

Gill Ponder

Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director NLaG

Gill joined Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust in April 2021 as Chair of the Finance and Performance Committee, which also encompasses Estates, Facilities and Digital. She is a member of the Audit, Charitable Funds and Remuneration Committees and is the lead Non-Executive Director for the Surgery and Critical Care Division and for Security.

Gill is an accomplished senior executive with over 40 years’ experience leading a wide range of functions, including HR, training, IT, finance, legal practice management, governance, field operations and management consulting, specialising in strategy, resourcing and business turnaround.

She holds a postgraduate certificate in management from the Open University and is a Chartered Manager and member of the Chartered Management Institute.

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.

Tony Curry

Non Executive Director HUTH

Tony was appointed to Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in April 2019. He has held senior roles in higher education, financial services and manufacturing, and previously worked as a director at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

He brings over 40 years’ experience in information technology, working in the UK and internationally. Over the past decade, his work has focused particularly on strategy and transformation programmes that leverage advances in mobile and self-service technologies.

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.