Dan lives in Wareham and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA), with a broad range of experience working with, and within, the public, private and charity sectors. He is currently (since August 2018) employed by CIPFA itself as the Chief Operating Officer – where he leads on the provision of internal business support services and CIPFA’s advisory services.

He is a member of the Institute’s Council and Board. He was previously a Director of EY (2015 – 2018); having also held roles in central government departments and as a Senior Manager for PwC. In addition, Dan is presently a Member of the Audit Committee at the City of London Corporation, and a Member of the Joint Audit Committee at Sussex PCC and Police Force.

​​​​​​​“I’m delighted to be joining the Board of NHS Dorset, and really looking forward to getting stuck into the task at hand, supporting the executive team and ensuring we all work together, collaborate and innovate to deliver the vision of NHS Dorset.”

​​​​​​​John is both a chartered accountant and chartered engineer. John’s career began as an electronic engineer in the hi-tech manufacturing industry (GEC Plessey and Siemens); he then worked for Deloitte & Touche in their Technology, Media and Telecommunications sector before joining BT Group in 2002. Since then, he has held multiple finance director roles within the company and his current position is CFO for BT’s Technology Units since June 2016.

Additionally, John is a Main Board Member and Deputy Chair Finance and Resources Committee at Bournemouth University and is a non-exec Board Member of Mobile Broadband Network Limited – a global benchmark joint venture between EE and Three.

“I’m delighted to be joining NHS Dorset at what is a pivotal time for both the NHS and the whole of the Dorset region. I’m looking forward to working with the whole team and playing a role in the development of the NHS Dorset strategy and agenda.”

Kay spent her career as a teacher and was with the Sir John Colfox School, Bridport for 22 years until 2016, initially as Deputy Head and for the last 13 years as the Headteacher. She concluded her teaching career as the Executive Principal of The Minerva Learning Trust, Bridport (2016 – 2019). Since then, she has commenced a Non-Executive Director (NED) career and is a member of Kingston Maurward Governing Body, and since 2019 has been a Non-Executive with NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) where she is the Deputy Chair of the Governing Body; Chair of the Remuneration Committee; Vice Chair of the Primary Care Commissioning Committee; and Vice Chair of the Audit Committee.

She is also a Member of the Dorset Non-Executive Directors’ Group and as part of her involvement with the Health Inequalities Group is involved with the Optum initiative looking at waiting lists and health inequalities.

​​​​​​​“I am delighted to be able to continue to work with the NHS in Dorset at this very important time. I have enjoyed my work with the clinical commissioning group and hope to bring that knowledge and experience to my new role.  I am particularly interested in supporting children and young people, addressing inequalities and in improving mental health services. The new NHS Dorset and integrated care system is a key development which will be of great benefit for everyone in Dorset.  Working as a partnership across the public, voluntary and community services in Dorset means we can achieve so much more, target what we do more closely on our own communities and make Dorset an even better place to live.”

​​​​​​​Dr Forbes Watson is a GP principal in Lyme Regis.  He trained at the University of Glasgow, and has worked in Glasgow, Cornwall, and Australia before moving to Dorset where he has been since 1997.  His interests are in models of care to enable delivery of care closer to home where possible.  Currently in the 3^rd term as Clinical Chair for NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), an elected role by the GPs in Dorset with responsibilities that include the very significant system leadership of clinical and non-clinical health and local authority leaders at local, regional, and national level.

​​​​​​​“I am delighted to be joining the Board. As a practising GP I believe the integrated care system gives us a great opportunity to further develop care locally, especially to address the prevention of ill health and health inequalities. I am very committed to this approach and will work hard to deliver it.”

Jonathon was a political and investigative correspondent for The Sunday Times, a speechwriter for the UK Government’s Secretary of State for Health and went on to become Managing Director of NHS Choices – now called NHS.UK (2010 – 2014). At NHS Choices he helped create a public digital front door for the NHS providing health and quality information for the public. His work in this role also got him involved in initiatives like shared decision-making and information prescriptions. From 2014 to 2020 he ran a consulting business working with CEOs of digital health start-ups on digital and commercial strategies.

He is currently the COO of ‘Healthily’ – an AI-driven self-care platform with 100 employees. Since being brought into this role he has restructured the company, shaped a commercial strategy, brought in a quality management system, created a research and analytics department, and introduced objective and key result reporting.

“I’m really proud to be given this opportunity. I hope my experience can help support the integration agenda and I look forward to the challenges ahead. I’ve lived in Dorset for 20-years. The county’s public services have looked after my family well and I’m keen everyone in the county feels the same way.”

Currently working as Board Chair for Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), a partnership between local authorities and local private sector businesses, Cecilia has learned a great deal about the needs, wants and opportunities for people, communities, and businesses in the county. Cecilia’s most recent executive role was Group Product Marketing Director at Tunstall Healthcare Group (2013 – 2016) where she developed the global business strategy and defined and supported the delivery of the global clinical, quality, and regulatory governance processes.

Prior to that she was the VP, Global Hospital Business for Linde Healthcare (2006 – 2012). Since 2016 she has been a freelance Business Advisor, specialising in strategic marketing, product innovation and business development; and has coupled this with NED roles; Trustee (since 2017) and Chair (since September 2020) of the Macular Society; Chair of Plant Heritage (since 2017); and as a School Governor (since January 2020).

“An Integrated Care Board gives Dorset the opportunity to change the way we deliver health and care. Dorset is at the vanguard of integrating health and care data and now has both a pressing need and the real desire to redesign the way we support people to maintain health, creating a true ‘health service’. For Dorset, with its older population, we have the chance to develop and test new systems and ways of working that will benefit the rest of the UK as their populations age.”

In addition to the Non-Executive Designate appointments, we have successfully appointed two Associate Non-Executive Directors.

Although neither individual will have a vote on the Board, they will increase the breadth and diversity, bringing additional depth to decision making whilst supporting them to develop further in their careers.

​​​​​​​With an award-winning record of driving wellbeing, engagement, and ethical and inclusive leadership at all levels, Dr Manish Tayal MBE is passionate about building meaningful connections with and between people. As a clinician and strategic leader, he has extensive experience of frontline primary and pre-hospital emergency care, healthcare governance and assurance, health sector security and rebuilding, and operational and strategic planning and management. Manish undertook specialist training in General Practice across the UK and joined the Royal Navy in 2004.

He has held a number of senior leadership and strategic roles with the Royal Navy, both in the UK and overseas, serving most recently as Head of Medical Operations & Primary Care in Navy Command HQ from 2018 to 2021. For his work on race, faith, and inclusion in Defence, he was awarded an MBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List.

“The global Covid-19 pandemic taught us two things above all: health inequity is amongst our greatest challenges; and together, we can overcome anything and emerge stronger. The new NHS Dorset offers a unique opportunity to harness the power of the second lesson, to meaningfully address the first, and I’m honoured and excited to be a part of making that happen.”

​​​​​​​Since August 2018 Leesa has been the owner of By the Waves Consulting, where she helps charities to be more effective, efficient, and sustainable. Recently she also held the role of Interim Chief Executive at Jeans for Genes, a national grant-giving charity that raises funds to support people living with genetic conditions.

Other previous roles include Board positions at The Big Issue Foundation and the Royal Osteoporosis Society, as well as 9-years at the RNLI, initially as Head of Community Engagement between 2009 and 2014, then as Director of Community Lifesaving from 2014 to 2018.

“I know first-hand how important it is to make health care more integrated and accessible for the people of Dorset. I am excited to be appointed to NHS Dorset to draw on my personal and professional experience to help transform health care provision here.”

NHS Dorset is the public name of NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board (ICB), which is set to come into being on 1 July 2022.

NHS Dorset will undertake the statutory responsibilities of the current Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and will also be responsible for planning to meet the healthcare needs of people and communities in Dorset.

NHS Dorset will work with others to:

• Improve outcomes in population health and healthcare;
• Tackle inequalities in outcome and access;
• Enhance productivity and value for money;
• Help the NHS deliver broader social and economic development, particularly post the COVID-19 pandemic.

NHS Dorset will listen to people and communities across Dorset, see things from their perspective, and co-design the services that people really need going forward, so that we can support people to live healthy and happy lives from cradle to old age.