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 a number of 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 for Technology One and also Chair’s the Universities UK/JISC Software Negotiations & Strategy Group. He is a Director for the University Alliance mission group of universities, and is a Non-Executive Director for Qualification Wales. John is additionally an advisory board member of the UK’s National Growth Board which is responsible for the oversight of the UK’s European Structural Funds Programme and most recently became a Member for the Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) for the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care System and also a Panel Member for the Home Team Academy based in Singapore. Previously, he has also 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 additionally 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 & 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.

Professor Deborah Sturdy

Chief Nursing Officer for Social Care DHSC

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

Director of Innovation, Transformation & Digital at Health Education England

Patrick Mitchell is the Director of Innovation, Digital and Transformation. Working at HEE since its inception in 2013 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 current national portfolio covers:

NHS Knowledge Management and Library Services
National Workforce Transformation Programme
NHS Centre for Education Technologies
NHS Digital Academy
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 chairs e-Integrity, a private enterprise jointly governed between HEE and the Royal Colleges, and is Vice Chair of Framework, a large homeless charity covering the East Midlands based in Nottingham and sits on the Advisory Board of the Institute of Public Policy and Governance at University of East London.

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

Global Health Expert in Integrated Care

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

Chief Nursing Officer, Kent & Medway

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.

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.

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

Mark Radford is Chief Nurse at Health Education England (HEE) and Deputy Chief Nursing Officer (England). Mark joined HEE in October 2019 and is seconded from his role in the CNO team where he held the lead for improvement and innovation.

Mark has worked in Perioperative, Emergency and Intensive Care in the UK and Europe. His has previously been Chief Nurse of a University Teaching Hospital and Consultant Nurse in Emergency and Trauma care. Mark is Professor of Nursing at Birmingham City and Coventry Universities and has published research on staffing, advanced practice, perioperative and trauma care.

Professor Ann-Marie Cannaby

Chief Nurse, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

Ann-Marie works 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 executive 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 has held substantive Professorial positions and is presently a Visiting Professor at Birmingham City University and Staffordshire University. She continues to teach on topics including transformational leadership and global policy. Her research interests focus on quality across nursing services, including how technology (digital and robotic) can improve nursing care and patient outcomes. Ann-Marie is a Principal Clinical Consultant on 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.