Meet the Board

James Wilkie was permanently appointed as Chairman in August 2024, following a period of acting into the role and a substantial amount of time as a Non Executive Director (NED). He is one of the longest-serving members of the Trust Board. Before joining the NHS, James enjoyed a long and successful career in local government working for a number of local authorities both in his native Scotland and across the North West region. He began his career as a town planner before moving on to manage a wide range of services in a number of senior leadership positions.

Following his retirement, James moved into the health sector and served on another NHS Trust Board before joining Blackpool Teaching Hospitals. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with family and friends, including his wife, two grown up daughters, a grandson and his beloved chocolate Labrador.

Maggie Oldham was appointed as permanent Chief Executive in September 2024, after time spent in the post on an interim basis. She joined Blackpool Teaching Hospitals from Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB, where she held the position of Deputy Chief Executive and Chief of transformation and recovery.

Maggie's commitment to enhancing organisational effectiveness and efficiency has defined her career. Beginning in 1982 when she joined the NHS on a Youth Opportunities Programme at Booth Hall Children’s Hospital, she started in pathology before transitioning into nursing.

Progressing through various nursing roles, Maggie eventually moved into general management, assuming leadership positions and earning a reputation for her proactive approach to challenges, consistently leaving organisations in a stronger position than she found them.

Since 2007, Maggie has held executive director roles within provider organisations, serving previously as a CEO, most recently at the Isle of Wight NHS Trust.

With over two decades working in challenged Trusts and health systems, Maggie's passion lies in improving services for local communities, emphasising the importance of supporting colleagues in delivering better care.

Adrian Carridice-Davids has worked in coastal areas in another part of the UK and  wants to bring that experience of community and partnership engagement to Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, with the hope to collectively improve the wellbeing of the residents of Blackpool and reduce health inequalities in the area.

Fiona Poxon is a chartered accountant who started her career working in audit at Deloitte. She then moved into industry and developed a specialism in finance and commercial business partnering for large corporate entitles, she supported various operational and sales leaders to achieve their financial and workforce orientated goals.

More recently Fiona has been working as a consultant on finance transformation and change projects in organisations ranging from small volunteer-run community businesses to large national companies in the healthcare sector. Fiona is passionate about improving opportunities and outcomes for all. She is an active volunteer trustee, sitting on several boards for community-based and charity organisations in the North West.

Andy Roach is the Trust's Deputy Chair, Senior Independent Director and a Non-executive Director.

He is a registered mental health nurse with more than 20 years’ experience at board level in health organisations.

He was most recently on the board at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and before that at NHS Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group as Director of Integration and Transformation. Within the role, he was responsible for an ambitious plan to reform how the CCG commissions services.

Andy was also the Lead Director on behalf of partner organisations across the Fylde Coast, providing system leadership and strategic management for the Fylde Coast Vanguard New Care Models programme. The scheme redesigned the way primary, secondary and voluntary sector health organisations worked together to deliver integrated healthcare to residents across the Fylde Coast.

He previously held the position of Direc­tor of Opera­tions and Exec­u­tive Nurse at Cum­bria Part­ner­ship NHS Foun­da­tion Trust. Dur­ing his five years at the Trust, Andy led the estab­lish­ment of Inte­grated Locality Services across Cum­bria, and was respon­si­ble for over­see­ing the clin­i­cal and oper­a­tional imple­men­ta­tion of Trans­form­ing Com­mu­nity Ser­vices. He also developed and imple­mented the first Trust-wide nurs­ing strategy.

Fergus Singleton has spent most of his working life in the defence industry, having joined British Aerospace as an apprentice in the 1980s.

He has led several large operational teams and has extensive experience in engineering, manufacturing, maintenance, supply chain and transformation.

Fergus and his wife have three children. His son is severely disabled from a birthing injury. He has cerebral palsy at the most extreme end of the spectrum and a range of associated complications. Fergus’s experiences (great and not so great) with his son in the region’s hospitals was his primary motivation for joining the Trust.

Fergus is a keen sportsman and enjoys swimming, cycling and skiing although, sadly, his football days are in the past.

Tracy Hopkins is the Chief Executive Officer of Citizens Advice Blackpool, bringing over 20 years of executive leadership experience in the Voluntary, Community, Faith, and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector. With a comprehensive understanding of Lancashire's diverse communities, Tracy is renowned for her dedication to partnership working and empowering individuals and communities to thrive.

Tracy's journey began at Manchester University, where she studied psychology before training as a teacher in Further Education. Her career progressed into developing adult training courses and working within the education and skills sector. In 2003, Tracy assumed her first CEO role, leading an Education Business Partnership across Greater Manchester. During this tenure, she acted as a consultant for the Department for Education and Skills, advising on employer engagement and corporate social responsibility. Tracy collaborated with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust to develop education leadership, sharing successful models globally, which significantly influenced the development of academies and school business managers.

Recently, Tracy completed a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Pre-doctoral Fellowship at Lancaster University. Her research focused on health inequalities in Blackpool, engaging with communities to identify and address these disparities. This work underscores her commitment to improving health outcomes and reducing inequalities.

Tracy holds several key positions that reflect her extensive experience and leadership in the VCFSE sector. She is a member of Blackpool’s Health & Wellbeing Board, the Safeguarding Adults Board, and the Lancashire Association of Council for Voluntary Services Board. Additionally, she serves as Chair of the VCFSE Alliance across Lancashire and South Cumbria, interim Chair of Blackpool’s Place-Based Partnership, and represents the VCFSE sector on the Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Nick Hardiker began his career at Blackpool Victoria Hospital 40 years ago, graduating in 1987 from Blackpool School of Nursing as a Registered General Nurse.

He has maintained his registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council throughout his career.

After working clinically in a variety of roles, from Cardiac Theatre Anaesthetics in Turin to Care of Older People in Manchester, he moved into higher education. He is an accomplished senior health and social care systems leader. Now Emeritus Professor at the University of Huddersfield, his most recent role was as Dean of its School of Human and Health Sciences. He has Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees in Computer Science from the University of Manchester.

With over 30 years’ experience of applied research and innovation, particularly around the development, implementation, use and exploitation of electronic health record systems, he has recently been elected to lead IMIA NI, the global representative body for nursing informatics and digital health. He has previously held digital health leadership roles at both the UK Royal College of Nursing and the International Council of Nurses.

Now working independently, he regularly advises a range of UK and international organisations on nursing and digital health practice, education, research and policy. He still has a place in his heart and connections in the region, and has a particular interest in organisational culture, social justice and integrated approaches to health care.

Nadia Khan has worked in HR and operations for more than 20 years in a career which began in the retail sector at John Lewis Partnership and New Look.

She moved into primary and secondary care within the NHS, with stints in the Middle East, with the Civil Service, and finally as a Principal Recruitment Consultant for the public sector. This gives her a commercial edge as well as an understanding of public services, efficiencies and insights into international alternatives.

Nadia is a strong believer of the importance of giving back to society and not to forget her own roots. She has also previously worked as a magistrate, where her independent, analytical thinking was crucial. She also volunteered at Lancashire Women’s Centre where she could support those in need. These roles presented their own challenges that Nadia was more than able to meet.

Nadia is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusivity particularly empowering people with no voice or a quieter voice and giving them a way to be heard. She wants to help break barriers by not just talking about this area of work but making it a reality.

As a Non Executive Director, she wants to ensure that Blackpool Teaching Hospitals is providing the safest and most appropriate care for each patient's needs, and this will be achieved through the support and constructive challenge of the Executive Board.

As a born-and-bred Lancashire lass, the care that is delivered matters to her on a personal level

Photo and biography to follow.

Catherine McDonald joined the Trust on an interim basis in January 2025. 

Bridget Lees joined the Trust in April 2023 from University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust where she was Executive Chief Nurse.

Before that she was Executive Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Therapy at Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust and also the Deputy Director of Nursing. Previous to this she was the Divisional Director of Nursing for acute adults at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.

Bridget began her NHS career in 1993 training at Edge Hill University before joining the staff of Southport and Formby District General Hospital in 1996. She held a succession of posts starting in A&E, working in urology, breast care, colorectal and high dependency before 10 years with the infection prevention and control team.

She left in summer 2015 to be a regional inspection lead for the Care Quality Commission, later becoming a head of nursing at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust where her responsibilities included prison healthcare and a large inpatient mental health unit.

More recently, Bridget has undertaken a secondment with the Chief Nursing Officer Ruth May and her team on the Executive Nurse Fellowship 2021/22.

Chris Barben joined the Trust on 16 May 2022.  His previous role was split between being Associate Medical Director for Planned Care at Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust and consultant colorectal surgeon at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Chris previously worked as Deputy Divisional Director of Surgery and Anaesthetics at Aintree Hospital, and as an internal clinical advisor to the Health Service Ombudsman.  He was also the general surgery lead for the Elective Recovery Programme in Cheshire and Merseyside.

Having completed his training in London and South East, as well as a year’s training in Singapore, Chris became a consultant surgeon in 2004 at Aintree Hospital, where he introduced enhanced recovery after surgery.

He was training programme director for core surgical training in the Mersey Deanery from 2008 to 2013.

Chris undertook GenerationQ, a masters programme in leadership and quality Improvement, sponsored by the Health Foundation. As a result of this he ran a programme at Aintree Hospital to improve theatre utilisation.

Tim Bennett joined the Trust in November 2024 in an interim capacity.

Katy Coope joined the Trust in July 2022 as Deputy Director of People and Culture. In November 2023, Katy was successful in being appointed to the Executive Director of People and Culture.

Katy joined from NHS England and Health Education England where she held a dual role of Head of Workforce Transformation and Director of Delivery and Performance.  During her time with NHS England, Katy was the Workforce Director for the delivery of the Covid-19 Vaccination Programme in the Northwest and worked with multiple partners to ensure there was sufficiently trained workforce to deliver the vaccine. Prior to this, Katy was a Director within the NHS Transformation Unit and provided leadership and expertise in relation to people and culture on several Transformation Programmes.

With strong personal connections to Lancashire and Blackpool, Katy will be using her significant experience of people and culture to support the Trust in being an developing an inclusive culture and being an employer of choice.

Janet Barnsley has more than 30 years’ experience within the NHS in a variety of roles in both provision and commissioning. Janet has worked on the Fylde coast since 2013, initially supporting the CCGs with Commissioning Support Services and then being appointed to Blackpool CCG in a new role of Director of Performance and Delivery.

Janet supported the Trust with winter pressures from December 2017 and was seconded into the role of Interim Director of Planned Care in April 2018, supporting the Trust and wider Integrated Care Partnership. Janet was formally appointed to the Trust is January 2020 and now provides operational oversight and management for the Families & Integrated Community Care and Clinical Support Services Divisions as well as being the Accountable Officer for Estates & Facilities, Emergency Preparedness Resilience & Response and Health & Safety.

Esther Steel has always worked within the NHS, starting her career as a Mental Health Nurse in Manchester before moving into Orthotics and Prosthetics and moving up through the ranks from newly qualified orthotist to a national clinical services manager role.  In 2008 Esther took up a new challenge using the skills gained in her clinical roles to lead the Foundation Trust application programme in Bolton NHS Foundation Trust. Once Bolton achieved Foundation Trust status Esther remained with the Trust for 12 years as Director of Corporate Governance moving to Blackpool in March 2022 for a new challenge.  The main focus of Esther’s role is ensuring the Trust operates within the law and regulatory framework by which NHS organisations are governed.

At the age of 16 Esther was involved in a significant accident resulting in multiple fractures and the amputation of her left foot.  Until recently Esther did not routinely tell people about her disability but now as a steering group member of the NHS Disabled Directors Network uses this experience to positively influence opportunities for others.

Esther has strong ties with Blackpool – she worked as an orthotist at the Victoria Hospital during the 1990s, also working regularly in clinics in Fleetwood and Lytham.  Her local claim to fame is that her great grandfather, famed landscape architect Thomas H Mawson designed Stanley Park.