Board Meetings and Past Board papers
We make the papers for our public Board meetings available online. We also publish a summary of what was discussed. Check out our past meetings to read more.
Steven Cooper
Chair
Steven lives in West Sussex and spent his working career in IT running global business divisions for McDonnell Douglas, Northgate IS and the Dell Corporation. On leaving Dell he joined West Sussex County Council as an independent member of their Remunerations Panel and Standards Committee and also joined the South Downs National Park Authority as an independent member of their Standards Committee. Steven is also Chair of Chichester College Group, an educational organisation based in West Sussex.
Jeremy Gardner
Vice Chair
Jeremy is a former journalist, working on local newspapers in West Sussex and Portsmouth early in his career, and later a director of communications and engagement in the NHS. He was involved in organising community engagement and consultation on major hospital and primary care changes in London as well as working with local diverse communities and groups to ensure their voice was heard and acted upon by NHS organisations. He worked on NHS contingency plans around the 2012 Olympics and led a series of public health campaigns to help east Londoners improve their health and well-being.
Ali Khan
Independent Director
Ali has over 15 years’ experience in leading and managing learning and development and medical education in the NHS. He is passionate about developing and embedding an inclusive culture that values human differences and similarities at all levels of the organisation while challenging health and social inequalities. Ali is an expert in workforce race equality standards and also the founder and chair of the NHS wide Ethnic Minorities Staff Network Chair’s Forum. He advocates for equality and social justice and advises organisations at developing, refining processes, policies and programs that support an inclusive work culture. Ali is a qualified cricket coach and Chairman of Crawley Eagles Cricket Club. Ali is the founder of Learning & Development Professionals Club (membership of over 150 Thousand). Ali’s aim is to be instrumental in shaping and improving the standards of care for everyone.
Helen Goodman
Independent Director
Helen’s executive experience has been in rail, an industry which has safety, risk and performance challenges, similar to the NHS. The role included delivering a number of significant business transformation projects to which Helen brought a broad range of skills, including risk management, governance, culture change and stakeholder engagement. Helen joined the Healthwatch Board with a belief that engagement and communication are essential aspects of helping ensure we all get the service we want for our family and friends. For 4 years Helen has worked as an exam invigilator which has kept her in touch with issues around young peoples’ mental and physical wellbeing.
Nigel Foulkes
Independent Director
Nigel worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 25 years and gained a great deal of insight into how the NHS works – its successes and its difficulties. Nigel was actively involved in the Healthwatch Bowel Cancer Awareness Programme and has now taken on the role of Healthwatch Representative on the West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board. Nigel is keen to utilise his experience to benefit patients and improve health care for all in West Sussex and the wider region.
Renée Fickling
Independent Director
Renée qualified as a Solicitor in 1995 and has over 20 years of experience in Human Rights, Immigration and Asylum law. Renée handles decisions at all levels from the First Tier Tribunal up to and including the Supreme Court and has extensive experience of representing the most vulnerable members of society. She is passionate about equality and ensuring that the voices of all are heard particularly in relation to access to local services. Renee has been an active volunteer for many years within her West Sussex community supporting Neighbourhood planning and taking a lead in youth sport.
Kathryn Loughnan
Member Director
Kathryn has a broad experience of diverse industries and sectors. A generalist, with a proven history of effective management, communication skills and an entrepreneurial attitude with over 16 years in the education/community sector. Kathryn is a multi-award winner for social enterprise projects with recognition at the Cabinet Office, No. 10 (Big Society Award 2011), Buckingham Palace and the United Nations. Volunteering, charity and social enterprise work have always featured in her life. In 2022 she became a Member Director providing bespoke support to individuals and answering the wider needs of the community.
Mark Sharman
Member Director
Mark gained a degree in Applied Social Services at Coventry Polytechnic. During his time as a student, Mark developed an interest in the voluntary and community sector, particularly in supporting people whose voice was not heard. Over the last 38 years, Mark has led Help & Care from a local community initiative to become a major, regional charity and social enterprise. Mark was also awarded the OBE in the new year Honours list 2003 and an Honorary Doctorate from Bournemouth University in November 2003.
