Our Board

Mary Elford joined the Trust as Chair on 1 April 2020 and has held a range of director and leadership roles in the public and private sectors.

She is also a board member and trustee for NHS Providers.

Mary was previously Vice Chair of East London NHS Foundation Trust, a member of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel for the NHS and a Non-Executive Director of Health Education England. She has also served on the council of the General Pharmaceutical Council.

Mary’s commercial career was with the John Lewis Partnership, where she held a range of senior executive positions.

Oliver joined the Board as a non-Executive Director in October 2017.  He has 20 years’ experience in the property sector and works as a consultant with organisations to advise on strategy and support on restructures and transformation programmes.  Oliver was previously a Trustee and Chair of West Norfolk Mind, and has experience in the commercial, public and not for profit sectors.

Oliver is a surveyor and Fellow of the RICS and Chartered Management Institute, and has qualifications in investment and an MBA from Cranfield University.

Anne is a doctor trained in general practice and public health. She was a Director of Public Health and executive director in health authorities and a primary care trust in the West and East Midlands before joining the Department of Health where she lead regional work on health improvement and inequalities and contributed to national policy development.  In her previous post, she acting Regional Director of Public Health for the East of England strategic health authority where she oversaw the transition of public health to local authorities and the development of the ‘Making Every Contact Count’ programme.

She is director of an independent public health consultancy and has undertaken recent work on governance, health protection and joint strategic health needs assessment.

She joined the Board in January 2015

Catherine is a qualified Chartered Accountant. She has enjoyed a full-time career as a non-executive director since 2002.  She is currently also a Board member with Natural England and Housing 21, and a Trustee at WWF-UK.

Catherine has also previously been a non-executive director with Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Trust, Chair of the Audit Committee at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, a Trustee at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Chair of the Trustees of Victim Support, and Chair of the Audit Committee at Action for Children.

As the parent of a severely disabled young adult, Anna combines her former background as a nurse with many years’ experience working as a parent carer representative at national level with both the Departments for Education, and Health and Social Care, with NHS England, CQC where she is an Expert by Experience and Health Education England, where she is a member of the Patient Advisory Forum.

Anna is a Lay Representative on the Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards (ACCEA) for the East of England.

She is a freelance trainer and policy consultant in the field of SEN and Disability which includes working as an Associate for the Council for Disabled Children.

Anna was awarded an OBE in 2012 for services to disabled children and their families.

Gary is an experienced and successful CEO now pursuing an independent portfolio career spanning the private and public sectors, with a passionate interest in Education and Health (Community and Mental Health).

Having worked his way up from being a UCMDS Management Trainee with Unilever to leadership roles in large, complex organisations, Gary brings to the table, clear independent judgement and multiple perspectives.

Gary developed his marketing skills within Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, Robinsons Soft Drinks, Dixons Stores and EDF; he co-founded Virgin Home, became CEO for BT Home Communications and CEO for Belkin Northern Europe.

In addition to his successful executive coaching consultancy, Gary is a Cabinet Member for Central Bedfordshire Council (leading on the All Age Skills Strategy) and a Special Advisor for East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT).

Fazilet became an Non-Executive Director of Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust in 2018. She chairs the People Participation Committee and is an experienced strategic leader with a record of improving equality, engagement and personalised service. Fazilet has held many board roles including being an executive director at RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People). She started her career as a solicitor and then held senior equality roles in local government. Fazilet is currently Head of Policy at Disability Rights UK and is on the Disability Advisory Committee of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Geoff brings a wealth of experience at executive and non executive director level, including as Audit Chairman and Non Executive Director at Luton Primary Care Trust and Bedfordshire and Luton Primary Care Trust from 2003 – 2012.  He is Chairman of Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation and is an active fund-raiser for Medical Detection Dogs.  Geoff has over 30 years experience in corporate and commercial finance including with the Royal Mail and Luton and Bedfordshire Universities and has undertaken periods of consultancy in South America, the Far East and Africa.  

Matthew Winn is the Chief Executive of the Trust and has led the organisation since 2007. Previously he worked in London in roles in acute care, local government and Primary Care Trusts.

He is also the Director for Community Health and Senior Responsible Officer for the Ageing Well programme with NHS England/NHS Improvement

He has an MSc in public policy and public management, focusing on how organisations can work together.

Mark was appointed as the Trust’s Director of Finance & Resources in 2015. 

He has worked for the NHS in finance roles since 1992 including Cambridge Health Authority, Huntingdon Primary Care Trust and various commissioning organisations in Cambridgeshire.   Mark joined CCS as Deputy Director of Finance in 2012, bringing with him wide ranging NHS experience and knowledge.

In 2007, Mark became a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).  

Kate Howard joined the Trust on a year’s secondment in October 2020; in September 2021 she was successfully appointed to the permanent Chief Nurse role. Kate joined Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust from Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust where she was seconded to the Director of Nursing, Allied Healthcare Professionals and Quality post.

Kate has over 25 years of nursing experience working in community, forensic, educational and in-patient settings, and has a background as a mental health nurse.

She is a qualified teacher and has an MSc in Mental Health Nursing and an MSc in Research. Clinically her specialist areas are community and in-patient rehabilitation and her interests include; quality, safety, equality, co-production and education.

Kate has significant experience of working in healthcare and in previous roles has led and supported a number of large scale clinical and quality based initiatives. Kate has been an external examiner for the University of Bedford and was part of the national team developing apprenticeships for the healthcare sector; she has also been an advisor to the NMC and Universities across the midlands region in relation to pre-registration training developments.

David has been a Consultant Community Paediatrician in Cambridgeshire since 1991, having qualified from Oxford University and then trained in Paediatrics in the north of England.

His clinical practice continues in the Trust’s service for children with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and support for children with palliative care needs.

He has a long standing interest in Children’s Palliative Care and is also part time Medical Director of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices and has been a Trustee of several national charities in this field.

He is currently an Expert Advisor for the General Medical Council and an External Clinical Advisor for the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. He has also been a Senior Officer and Trustee of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Anita Pisani has over 20 years’ experience of working within the NHS and started her career in the telecommunications industry.  She was also a founder Director and Company Secretary of a small design consultancy business.  Anita joined Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust  in June 2012 from Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust where she had been leading the workforce, communications and OD agendas.  Prior to this she worked in NHS Bedfordshire where she was the Workforce and OD Director on both the Commissioning and Provider Board.

She has significant experience of working across the health and social care system and has led a number of large scale workforce change programmes. Anita is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and is a former Chair of the NHS East of England Human Resources Director Network.