Meet the senior management team

Carol McKenna, Chief Officer

Carol is the shared Chief Officer for NHS Greater Huddersfield CCG and NHS North Kirklees CCG.
Before becoming a CCG Chief Officer, Carol was previously Executive Director of Commissioning and Strategic Development at NHS Kirklees and previously Director of Commissioning and Service Development at the former South and Central Huddersfield PCTs.
Carol has worked in the NHS for more than 25 years and has over 15 years’ experience in director roles. Carol has spent most of her NHS career working in commissioning roles in West Yorkshire and has experience in system leadership, change management, developing organisations and service development.

Dr David Kelly – Chair

David became a GP in 1990 after undertaking training at the University of Leeds.  He is a GP at Brookroyd Surgery in Heckmondwike.  As well as being the Chair of North Kirklees CCG, David has particular roles around contracting, quality and service redesign and has a special interest in cardiology.

Ian Currell, Chief Finance Officer 

Ian has worked in the NHS for over 20 years and has spent the last eight years in director roles. He has worked in both provider and commissioner organisations and most recently was Director of Finance for NHS England (Lancashire and Greater Manchester) where he supported the further devolution of decision making powers to Greater Manchester. Ian has previously spent four years working for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust and he lives in the Greater Huddersfield area. He is a member of the Governing Body.

Pat Keane, Interim Chief Operating Officer, NHS North Kirklees CCG and NHS Wakefield CCG

Pat has worked in the NHS for 40 years. A qualified general and mental health nurse Pat’s clinical career spanned 20 years, primarily in adolescent and adult forensic psychiatry with a clinical focus upon behavioural psychotherapy. Following a two year national development programme at the Kings Fund, Pat then worked in a range of managerial and leadership roles in the acute, community and mental health sectors as well as four years as cancer network director in Teesside. Pat has also held board level posts in mental health and primary care trusts and as a deputy chief executive.

Following several interim roles Pat joined NHS Wakefield CCG on a fixed term basis in April 2015 prior to commencing his current role across NHS North Kirklees and NHS Wakefield CCGs in March 2016. Pat has an MSc in Organisational Change and Development which is a particular passion.

Pat lives in Teesside with his wife and two daughters and his spare time is spent taking part in activities with his family or running with the local running club.

Martin Pursey, Head of Contracting and Procurement

Penny Woodhead , Chief Quality and Nursing Officer

Penny has worked in the NHS for over 20 years, trained as a general nurse in a London teaching hospital, specialised in oncology and palliative care and has experience clinically and in management across tertiary, secondary, primary care and the voluntary sector. Penny has also been involved in clinical governance since 1998 at service and organisational level.

Penny’s role within the CCG is Head of Quality and Safety and is responsible for making sure that the services that are commissioned are of a high standard. This includes safety, safeguarding, effectiveness and patient experience and equality. Penny is also a member of the quality, performance and finance committee.

Catherine Wormstone, Head of Primary Care Strategic Commissioning

Makrand Goré, Head of Medicines Management

Following achieving a Master’s Degree in Pharmacy from Manchester University, Makrand started his professional career in secondary care and then moved to community pharmacy taking up management roles in that sector.

He joined NHS North Manchester CCG as a care homes pharmacist with both a clinical and operational development role undertaking a Clinical Diploma in Therapeutics from Cardiff University and MBA from Lancaster University.  Following this, Makrand moved to NHS Bolton CCG as a medicines optimisation pharmacist, then strategic pharmacist focussing on long term conditions, integration and QIPP.  He has a keen interest in wider stakeholder engagement and promoting prevention rather than medication.

He lives in South Manchester with his wife and two children.  He is a big movie fan and loves anything with a motor!

Siobhan Jones, Head of Communications

Siobhan joined the NHS in 2009 after 20 years in the higher education sector working in universities in the North East of England.

As head of communications and public relations for NHS South of Tyne and Wear, she worked for a cluster of three primary care trusts and emerging CCGs, before moving to a post with a regional NHS commissioning support unit. Siobhan joined NHS North Kirklees CCG in May 2014.  She also works for NHS Greater Huddersfield CCG.

Laura Ellis, Head of Corporate Governance

Helen Severns, Head of Transformation and Integration

Helen has worked in the NHS for over 30 years. She graduated from Sheffield University with a BA Hons in Urban Studies in 1984 and wanted to work in the NHS following a number of summer jobs, including working as a domestic on the spinal injuries unit at a local hospital.

She completed her MBA in 1997 with a dissertation on the impact of the care programme approach on the quality of care provided for mental health service users.

Helen worked in Derbyshire for a number of years where she led a number of service areas, including joint commissioning with the local authority. She moved to Kirklees in 2009.

We all have relatives and friends who are patients and Helen is passionate about ensuring that we commission quality services to meet their needs, recognising that we also need to support their carers.

Helen is married with two sons and enjoys family holidays, walking the dog, learning to dance and catching up with friends.

Vicky Dutchburn, Head of Planning and Performance

Steve Brennan, Interim Working Together Senior Responsible Officer

Rachel Carter, Turnaround Director

Becky Drury, Human Resources and Organisational Development Manager