Our board

Stephen has enjoyed a successful career in healthcare with Allied Healthcare Group and a Healthcare, joining DHU as Chief Operating Office on 6^th January 2014, becoming Chief Executive in July that year. With operational, finance, customer service, project management and commercial experience in the UK and abroad, Stephen is also a Chartered Accountant (CPFA) and Member of Association of Accounting Technicians (MAAT).

Stephen is also a Non-Executive Director of Urgent Health UK.

Pauline was Operations Manager at Derbyshire Medical Services (DMS) in August 2006, assisting as it merged with Derbyshire Health Care to ultimately become DHU.  She was appointed to the Main Board of DHU as an Executive Director in November 2012. With a degree in Business Management, Pauline has more than 20 years’ NHS experience including Risk Management, Site Services, Outpatients and Senior Manager of a Community Hospital. Prior to the NHS Pauline worked in Human Resources, in private industry, for 11 years.

Pauline is a member of the NICE Executive Customer Advisory Board.

Dr Bhatti has been with the company for over 10 years and has been a practising GP since 2010. 

He has overseen the growth of DHU from its roots of being an out of hours provider for Derbyshire (where he was the Clinical Director for 8 years) to becoming the Medical Director where he has a more strategic/governance role in developing the forward view of the organisation across the Midlands. 

His interests revolve around improving access to primary/urgent care, the use of digital transformation to improve health, developing a sustainable primary care strategy along with understanding preventative health dynamics using best evidence. 

Aqib is also a cosmetic physcian and Director of Four18 Wellbeing Limited.

Paul has more than 25 years of nursing experience, joining DHU as a part time Senior Nurse Practitioner in 2006, working within cardiology, medicine, emergency care and primary care across the East Midlands. He was appointed as Clinical Head of Operations in 2012 working across the 111 service, Out of Hours and the Community Nursing services, achieving Deputy Clinical Director status for DHU, Primary Care & Operations in 2015 and Managing Director for the DHU Urgent Care (Derbyshire) Division in 2017, providing clinical and operational leadership across Derbyshire.

 

Jenny boasts more than 30 years of nursing experience in medicine, emergency care education and as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner alongside many senior management nursing positions. She joined Derbyshire Healthcare in 2005 as a Senior Nurse Practitioner, a Senior Nurse Clinical Practice at the newly formed DHU Healthcare becoming Head of Nursing in 2008 and Executive Director of Nursing and Quality in 2021. Jenny is also an experienced coach, leading individuals and teams to achieve the best outcomes for quality patient care.

Sara brings over three decades of financial and leadership experience to the business - spanning the private and public sectors. A Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) qualified professional, she has held senior roles across various organisations, including Leicestershire County Council, Prudential PLC (Egg Bank) and Shepherd Direct Ltd. Most recently - as Head of Finance here at DHU for the past year - she has led the finance team through a structure change, and worked with Executives Directors and senior leaders to develop a robust budget and three-year financial plan - including a Marginal Enhancement Programme (MEP) designed to drive continuous improvement. With a background in leading finances for Adults & Children’s Social Care and Customer Service Centres, her expertise in managing budgets exceeding £300m and leading transformation programs will be invaluable.

With more than 27 years of experience in the healthcare sector, Zahra has held senior leader and director roles for over 15 years - and has a broad background that includes prison healthcare services, NHS111, urgent care and primary care. 

She comes to DHU from Orbis Education and Care, where she was its first-ever Chief People Officer.  She is a qualified Executive Coach and holds a Chartered Fellow Membership in Personnel Development (Chartered FCIPD).

Keith Nurcombe is Chair of DHU Healthcare, bringing over 30 years of leadership experience across public and private healthcare sectors. He previously served as a Non-Executive Director at DHU from 2015 to 2019 and rejoined the organisation in 2025 to support its continued growth. Keith also holds Non-Executive roles with Chesterfield Royal Hospital and Humber Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts. A leader in NHS digital transformation, he supports national initiatives through the Cabinet Office and works with charities such as The Avalon Group. Keith is committed to helping DHU deliver outstanding care to the communities it serves.

Dr Shade Agboola has a wealth of experience in public health, and is currently Statutory Director of Public Health at Warwickshire County Council. She has more than 11 years’ experience working in public health, local government and academia focusing on health improvement and reducing health inequalities through partnership working, Shade brings a huge amount of knowledge and a shared goal to the DHU Board of Directors.

 

Gillian, as a professionally qualified Human Resources Director, brings over 25 years of board level experience to DHU – supporting commercial organisations with the challenges of delivering workforce, organisational development and transformation programmes.   A former Board member at West Leicestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, she also chaired several of its key committees including Primary Care.  

Passionate about improving care and services for patients, she is a well-regarded representative of the patient voice both on national and international platforms and sits on a number of NHS England committees. 

Gillian is a national expert steering group member for Anthony Nolan and is involved with the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Gillian is also the Chair of the Medical and Dental Consultants Appointment Panel for University Hospitals Leicester.

A professional qualified accountant, Stephen is the Chair of the Audit Committee. Having worked at Bass plc, Stephen was appointed as Finance Director of Crest Hotels: Continent of Europe, acquiring Holiday Inn where he became Chief Financial Officer for their Europe, Middle East and Africa operations. In 2003, Stephen joined Nottingham Trent University as Chief Financial and Operations Officer with overall responsibility for Finance, Estates, Commercial Development, Legal, Registry, IT, and Governance Services before retiring in May 2016.

Stephen is a Non-Executive Director of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board and a Governor/Trustee in local educational establishments. Stephen is also a Non-Exectutive Director and Chair of Nottigham BID Company Limited and the owner and CEO of Imperial Business Consulting Limited. 

Dr Lloyd has been a practising GP for many years, prior to which he spent time as a maxillofacial surgeon.

For many years he was the Chair of Hardwick CCG before taking up the role of Executive Medical Director of Derby and Derbyshire CCG. It was in this role that his portfolio included primary care commissioning and quality, medicines management and clinical policy, strategic long term conditions commissioning and GP IT infrastructure.

He was System Senior Responsible Officer and architect of the covid vaccination programme and covid treatments programme. He also led system transformation programmes within Derbyshire, contributing to and chairing a number of work streams at regional and national level, particularly within urgent and emergency care.

Steven is a member of the NICE Appraisals Committee and an Associate at Bench Optum UK. He is also an East Midlands Clinical Senate Council member and the clinical lead at Conclusio. 

A nurse, midwife and health visitor by background, Michele has more than 35 years of experience in NHS patient care and management.   Chief Executive at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust since 2017, she has held NHS Director positions in Manchester, Leeds and York and has extensive experience access all healthcare sectors.  She is an advocate for improving patient-centred care through partnership and collaboration, as well as supporting the health and wellbeing of NHS people. 

Michele also holds regional roles – including Chair of the Yorkshire and Humber Clinical Research Network, partner representative on the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board and lead for the Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Collaborative.

Abi was a previous Director General for Her Majesty’s Passport Office and UK Visas and Immigration, Abi also became the 23rd Registrar General for England and Wales in March 2021, her appointment as the head of the General Register Office (GRO) granted by the Queen. Abi has held prominent roles with IBM’s Global Services Business, Aberdeen City Council and University Hospitals of Leicester. She joined Serco Health in 2016, later becoming the company’s Business Development Director for their Health Business – with responsibility for providing strategic direction to help the business grow.

Abi is currently the first female Chief Executive of Welsh Rugby Union.