Our Board

Professor Mark Britnell

Chair of Health Innovation Manchester

Professor Mark Britnell joined Health Innovation Manchester as its new chair in September 2024, joining the board of senior leaders to accelerate world-leading innovation to improve the lives of Greater Manchester’s 2.8m population. Mark brings his vast experience of global public and private health systems across 81 countries, having led organisations at local, regional and national levels.

Mark, who is originally from Chester, has dedicated all his 35 years of professional experience to the development of healthcare around the world, working in 81 countries. He was vice chair of KPMG UK until the end of December 2022 and before that was Global Chairman and Senior Partner for Healthcare, Government and Infrastructure at KPMG International.  

In 2000, Mark was appointed Chief Executive of University Hospitals Birmingham, where he masterminded the largest new hospital build in NHS history, and later went on to run the NHS South Central region before joining the NHS management board as Director General at the Department of Health, including leading the national NHS innovation strategy at the time.  

He is a Trustee of The King’s Fund, a professor at the Global Business School for Health at University College London and an adjunct professor at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. 

Steve Oldfield CB

Deputy Chair of Health Innovation Manchester

Steve Oldfield CB was appointed non-executive director at Health Innovation Manchester in February 2023.

Steve has international leadership experience across the private and public sector, in healthcare and life sciences. He was appointed Chief Commercial Officer at the Department of Health and Social Care in 2017, where he worked at the centre of healthcare policy & operations throughout Brexit and COVID-19. Steve was awarded a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 2021 in recognition of his work on the COVID 19 response

Steve was formerly Chief Operating Officer for PGT Healthcare, a consumer-health joint venture between Procter & Gamble and Teva, and UK Managing Director for the Sanofi Group. He has strong record of delivery against ambitious targets and has successfully led major organisation transformation initiatives.

Steve was previously a non-executive director at Genomics England Ltd, and a member of the Advisory Board of Healthcare UK. He was the Chair of EU Medicines Group (EMG), UK Government Medicines Access Group (MAG) and Metrics Oversight Group (MOG), He was also an ABPI Board member, and a member of the UK NHS Industry Council & Accelerated Access Group.

Prof Ben Bridgewater

Chief Executive, Health Innovation Manchester

Ben Bridgewater is Chief Executive of Health Innovation Manchester, a place-based innovation organisation with a vision to be world leading in improving the lives of local people, transforming care and boosting the economy through innovation. Since 2018, Ben has led the organisation through a period of growth and transformation, securing significant external investment and delivering nationally recognised programmes such as the Greater Manchester Care Record and pioneering work in obesity care.

Ben is also the Executive Chair of the Health Innovation Network, representing England’s 15 regional health innovation networks nationally. He spearheads the Network’s mission to harness innovation to improve health outcomes and drive economic growth.

Ben is a leading expert on health informatics, national clinical audit, clinical governance, healthcare transparency, patient experience measurement and digital transformation in healthcare, publishing numerous high profile academic outputs and delivering innovative IT tools for disseminating clinical outcomes to professionals and the public.

He brings extensive experience as a former cardiac surgeon for 18 years,  as a clinical leader and innovator, with a track record of delivering national policy, leading digital transformation, and forging major NHS-industry partnerships.

Dr Mark Chakravarty

Non-Executive Director

Dr Mark Chakravarty was appointed non-executive director at Health Innovation Manchester in January 2023.

Mark is a business leader and physician with more 20 years’ international leadership experience in both the private and public sector, including Novartis, Procter and Gamble and the NHS. He has worked in a variety of roles, including medical, scientific, external relations and communications.

Mark is currently the Vice Chair of the unitary board of directors at National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE). He was formerly the global head of communications and patient advocacy for Novartis Pharmaceuticals, and also led communications for the feminine and family care sector at Procter & Gamble.

Anthony Hassall

Chief Executive of Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust

Anthony joined Pennine Care as Chief Executive in April 2022.

He was previously Regional Chief People Officer at NHS England and Improvement North West, and before that was Chief Accountable Officer at Salford Clinical Commissioning Group for six years. At Salford Clinical Commissioning Group, Anthony led a successful team who achieved an NHS England and Improvement ‘outstanding’ rating every year.

Prior to his role in Salford, Anthony worked at Board and senior level in a range of NHS organisations in Greater Manchester and Cheshire and Merseyside.

Anthony is Chair of the North West mental health, learning disability and autism collaborative, which ensures the voice of NHS trusts specialising in these areas across the region are represented and heard at a national level.

His earlier experience includes being trustee of a mental health charity and leading a service user engagement programme to redesign community services in a US mental health organisation.

Anthony has led work regionally around inequalities and inclusion and is also currently trustee of the Salford Foundation charity where he lives, which supports people with mental and physical health challenges back into employment and training.

Dr Helen Routh

Non-Executive Director

Dr. Helen Routh is a board director, advisor and senior executive with more than 25 years’ healthcare technology experience in business management, strategy and innovation. She currently works with public and private companies and clinical groups focused on the use of data to drive new solutions, business models and outcome improvements.

As well as being a non-executive director at Health Innovation Manchester, Dr Routh is currently non-executive Chair of Ultromics, and non-executive Director of Agfa Gevaert N.V. She is also an advisor to Nina Capital.

Previously, Helen held senior business and functional roles at Philips, leading teams in the Americas, Europe and Asia, working with multi-billion businesses and new ventures. Her responsibilities included Philips corporate research in North America, Senior VP and General Manager of the global clinical informatics businesses, and Senior VP Strategy and Innovation working across all the professional and consumer health businesses at Philips.

Sir Richard Leese

Chair, Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board

Sir Richard Leese was appointed as Chair of Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board from 1^st November, 2021. Until December 1^st, 2021 he had been Leader of Manchester City Council since 1996.

Richard’s interests include devolution, place-based budgets and the links between economic development and social policy; public service reform as the route to tackling social determinants and inequality; developing open democracy and the community leadership role of local authorities; and the role of cities in creating a sustainable future.

His involvement in Health and Care goes back over two decades to when he chaired the Manchester/Salford/Trafford Health Action Zone. He chaired Manchester’s Health and Well-Being Board from its inception, and was the GMCA Health portfolio holder for Greater Manchester, chairing the GM Health and Care Board.

Professor Ashley Blom

Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology, University of Manchester

Professor Ashley Blom MBChB MD PhD FRCS (Tr&Orth) FMedSci joins the University of Manchester as the new Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology from the University of Sheffield where he was the Vice-President and Head of the Faculty of Health. He is an Orthopaedic surgeon whose research covers a broad range of basic science and applied methodologies primarily focussing on arthroplasty. He is part of the team that holds the contract to analyse the National Joint Registry, the largest arthroplasty database in the world. He is an NIHR Senior Investigator, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and past President of the European Orthopaedic Research Society.

Councillor Bev Craig

Leader of Manchester City Council & Labour Councillor for Burnage Ward

Bev became Leader of Manchester City Council on 1^st December 2021.

First elected in 2011 as a Burnage Councillor, she held a range of responsibilities on Manchester City Council including as Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Health and Deputy Leader.

Since becoming Leader, she has overseen Manchester’s ambitious plans to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy, increasing investment into neighbourhoods across the city, better outcomes for children and young people, tackling inequalities, building more housing and working to meet Manchester’s net zero ambitions.

Bev is a Vice-Chair of the Local Government Association and Leader of the association’s Labour Group, which represents and supports Labour Groups in England and Wales and the Labour councillors within them. In Greater Manchester she holds a range of responsibilities on behalf of the city as a Vice Chair, including leading on the Economy, Business and Inclusive Growth Portfolio for the Combined Authority. She was formerly Chair of Core Cities UK, the network representing the UK’s largest cities outside London.

Originally from Belfast, she moved to Manchester in 2003 for university. After graduating from the University of Manchester she began her career in Local Government, before working in higher education and then a national trade union leading on social care. She holds postgraduate degrees from Warwick Business School and the University of Manchester. Outside of politics she enjoys sports and being outdoors, music, culture and enjoying all that Manchester has to offer.

Dr Owen Williams OBE

Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Group Chief Executive

Dr Owen Williams is Chief Executive of the NCA FT since November 2021. Prior to this appointment, he was Chief Executive of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT), a position which he has held since 2012. In 2020 he was granted the degree of Doctor of Business Administration by the University of Huddersfield following the successful completion of his thesis which commenced 6 years previously in 2014. In the 2019 New Year’s Honours list he was awarded an OBE for service to health care across West Yorkshire and was asked to lead a National piece of work across the NHS in England with regards to reducing Health Inequalities. He was previously Vice Chair of the NHS Confederation and prior to joining the NHS he has worked across Local Government including two roles as Chief Executive at Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council and Rossendale District Borough Council. Before working in the Public Sector, he worked in commercial business including his first employment at the Yorkshire Building Society. He is passionate about reducing health inequality and ensuring that no communities – regardless of race, colour or creed – get left behind.

Professor Nic Beech

Vice-Chancellor of The University of Salford

Professor Nic is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Salford and was previously Vice-Principal at the University of St Andrews, Provost of Dundee University and Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University. He is Chair of the Quality Council for UK Higher Education, a Commissioner on the International Higher Education Commission and Treasurer and on the Board of Universities UK. He was previously Treasurer and on the Board of the Academy of Social Sciences and Chair of Access HE.  Nic is currently a member of the DfE Curriculum and Assessment Review panel.

Nic’s academic field is business and management and his research focused on identity, change and educational leadership. His awards from Learned Societies include, at a national level, the Lifetime Achievement in Research Award and at an international level, the Exceptional Service to the Field of Management Worldwide Award. He was the longest-serving president of the British Academy of Management and was the 2023 recipient of the British Academy of Management lifetime achievement award.

Mark Cubbon

Chief Executive, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Mark Cubbon is Group Chief Executive of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust since April 2023 and has worked in the NHS for his entire career.  He joined the NHS as a nurse in Greater Manchester in 1992.

Prior to his role in Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, he was Chief Delivery Officer for NHS England.

Mark has held a range of senior leadership roles in his career, including Chief Executive at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, regional Chief Operating Officer for NHS Improvement in the Midlands and East of England, and several director roles in London NHS trusts, including Moorfields Eye Hospital, Whipps Cross and Barts Health.

Professor Duncan Ivison

President and Vice Chancellor of The University of Manchester

Professor Duncan Ivison, FAHA FRSN, is President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester. He holds degrees from McGill University and the London School of Economics. With over 20 years at the University of Sydney, Duncan has extensive experience in academic leadership, including roles as Dean and Deputy Vice Chancellor. A distinguished political and moral philosopher, he’s received numerous awards and held visiting positions at prestigious institutions worldwide. Duncan is passionate about public engagement and building partnerships between universities, communities, industry, and governments.

Caroline Simpson

Chief Executive, Greater Manchester Combined Authority

Dr Tracey Vell

Chief Officer, Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board and PC Provider Collaborative

Dr Vell has worked in general practice for 30 years and for the NHS for 34 years. She has political, digital, business and educational leadership backgrounds.

She has been involved in LMC leadership, educational leadership and in business start-ups across her years in practice.

She held the role of medical director for Health Innovation Manchester to spread innovation across all health and care settings for 6 years.

She persevered to bring primary care providers to the GMH&SC Devolution programme and has worked as lead for primary care for the GM health and social care partnership for 11 years and continues to do so as Chief Officer of the primary care provider collaborative. She developed GP excellence as a peer- based Quality Improvement and leadership development academy and connected front line primary care providers to ICS strategy.

She supports, advises and works amongst GPs and is passionate about the need for front-line providers to direct strategy with an approach that tackles wider determinants of health.

She was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s honours in 2018 for her work.

Roger Spencer

Chief Executive, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Roger Spencer is Chief Executive at The Christie, having previously worked as Interim Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer.

Roger has managed significant service developments including satellite radiotherapy & chemotherapy centres across Greater Manchester, transforming delivery of Christie services to an outpatient model. He directed the establishment of Christie partnerships for pharmacy, pathology, specialist diagnostic services and private patients & our academic investment plan. Roger leads for Greater Manchester in the National Cancer Vanguard developing & testing new models of care. In 2016 Roger led the Trust to a CQC Outstanding rating and is in the top 15 chief executives ranked by the HSJ in 2017. Roger leads the Christie in delivering the first national Proton Therapy service in the UK, operational in 2018.

Roger holds an MBA, an honours degree in Nursing Studies, is a Registered Nurse and is an independent director of Southway Housing Trust.

Roger previously worked at Salford Royal, East Lancashire Hospitals & Greater Manchester SHA.

Mark Fisher

Chief Executive, NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care

Mark Fisher is Chief Executive of NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care

Mark grew up in the West Country. He joined the Civil Service as a fast stream trainee in 1983. From June 2017 until June 2022 he was a Director General in the Cabinet Office and Secretary to the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry. Since 1st July 2022, he has been Chief Executive of NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care.

Mark has worked in the Benefits Agency, as HR Director of the (then) Department for Social Security, and as deputy Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. He has been Chief Executive of the Sector Skills Development Agency, promoting employer investment in skills, and Labour Market Director in the DWP during the 2009 recession. Immediately prior to his appointment to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry he was Director of the Office for Civil Society at the Cabinet Office (and later DCMS) with responsibility for social action, social investment, support for charities, business partnerships and youth policy.

Mark has been a Director of Working Links (Employment) Ltd, an advisor for the Prince’s Trust Team (formerly volunteers) programme, and a Public Member of Network Rail. He is Chair of the Estates and Finance Committee at Huddersfield University, and a Trustee of the Clore Social Leadership Foundation. He is also Chair of the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC). In January 2010, Mr Fisher received a CBE.

Mark lives in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire.