Meet our directors

Alison Marshall has been Chair of Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust since October 2019, having previously been a non-executive director at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Before working in the NHS, Alison was a partner in a large law firm specialising in regulatory law and dispute resolution advising clients from both the public and private sector. As well as her legal knowledge, she brings with her a wealth of experience from other non-executive and governance roles.

Trudie joined the trust as the CEO in March 2023. For more than nine years, Trudie has held several leadership positions in the NHS. She originally trained as a nurse, holding roles at Leeds Teaching Hospital and Leicester Royal Infirmary. In 2003, Trudie moved to service improvement and then three years later assumed the role of operational manager for trauma and orthopaedics. Subsequently, she took up senior management positions in medicine and accident and emergency, all whilst working at Leeds. Trudie has previously served for three years as an assistant director of operations at Leeds Teaching Hospital prior to joining Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust in 2016. Since then, she has been working as the Chief Operating Officer and latterly as Deputy Chief Executive with additional roles for system leadership in both planned and unplanned care before joining Gateshead Health.

Gill trained as a Registered General Nurse and a Registered Sick Children’s Nurse at Great Ormond Street in London. Since qualifying Gill has held various clinical and managerial positions in Leeds, Newcastle, and Durham. Most recently Gill worked in the County Durham Clinical Commissioning Group where she was the Director of Nursing. Gill has also undertaken secondments in Bradford and District Care Trust and Tees, Esk and Wear Valley’s NHS Trust. Gill has recently completed a professional doctorate at Teesside University and is passionate about providing high-quality, safe patient care.

Joanne Halliwell has been the interim Chief Operating Officer at Gateshead Health since September 2023. She is an accomplished healthcare professional and a registered general nurse with a wealth of experience in various operational and leadership roles. She previously held the position of Director of Operations (Medicine) at the Trust from June to September 2023. Prior to this, she worked at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, where she held several key positions including Deputy Chief Operating Officer and a number of Director level positions. Before this, she worked as an Associate Director for Business Development at Yorkshire Ambulance Service from 2010 to 2015.

Andy has been a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist for the Trust since 1995 and Trust medical director since 2016. Previously he was clinical lead for obstetrics and gynaecology for 11 years and an associate medical director (workforce) for 2 years. He is the Trust’s Caldicott Guardian responsible for overseeing the appropriate use of personal information. He is joint Senior Responsible Officer for the North East and North Cumbria Local Maternity and Neonatal System.

Kris joined the Trust in 2018 working in various roles and is now Group Director of Finance and Digital. She has also held senior finance positions at NHS Improvement and Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, having worked in NHS finance for over 20 years.

Amanda Venner is a Chartered CIPD professional and is currently the interim Director of People and OD at Gateshead Health. Previously, she held the position of Deputy Director of People and OD at the Trust, where she was the senior operational lead for the function, overseeing the full range of services. Prior to this role, Amanda served as the Interim Deputy Director of Workforce and Workforce Programme Transformation Lead for the North East and North Cumbria as well as the Head of Workforce Planning, Medical Education and Recruitment at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.

Hilary joined the Trust Board in June 2020. She has a wide experience in both the public and private sectors. She was a partner in a solicitors’ practice for 30 years and was also a non-executive director of the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for many years. She was also the chair of QE Facilities from 2020 until 2023. She is an independent Board member of Kingston Properties (the commercial subsidiary of a Housing Association) and the Chair of The Newcastle University Development Trust (a registered charity).

Anna has worked in the NHS for over 35 years and has worked clinically as a nurse, midwife and health visitor. Anna has worked in senior leadership positions across the NHS in commissioning, regulation and provider services. Her most recent role was as the Executive Chief Nurse in Cumbria. She maintains her registration as a nurse and midwife.

During his executive career, Andrew has gained experience in the water, telecommunications and ports sectors, occupying senior financial, commercial and strategic roles both in the UK and internationally. He was Strategy Director at Orange, CFO at Three (Italy), CFO at Three (UK) and after joining the Port of Tyne as Finance and Commercial Director in 2007 became Chief Executive for 10 years until 2018. He has sat on a number of regional regeneration Boards including the North East LEP, where he also chaired its Investment Board. He has also previously been Chair of the British Ports Association and of the CBI’s Regional Council. In addition to being a Board member of Gateshead Health, Andrew is chair of its Audit Committee and Digital Committee.

Adam Crampsie is a clinician by background. He has spent 18 years working in healthcare, starting in the NHS before moving into corporate healthcare, then becoming the Commercial and Clinical Development Director of Nuffield Health and now serves as the Chief Executive of Everyturn Mental Health, a charity that delivers specialist mental health services across the North East and England. He is also a Trustee of The Terrence Higgins Trust.

Martin Hedley is the Managing Director of Vision Achievement Limited, a company which delivers specialised recruitment, learning and development services, and he has provided strategic support, idea generation and operational challenge to executive board members for over 20 years. He has extensive experience in transformation and change management, having delivered global change programmes for companies such as Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank, and American Airlines. He is an experienced NHS Non-Executive Director in his final year at Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust and is also a Governor at Gateshead College.

Maggie joined the Trust in October 2021. She is a qualified HR professional with extensive commercial experience operating at Board level. She became chair of QE Facilities, the wholly owned subsidiary in autumn 2023. Her executive career has been predominately within the private sector. She was HR Director with Parkdean Resorts for 15 years up until 2019. A passionate advocate for employee engagement, Maggie runs her own technology business which focuses on this area. Over the last 30 years Maggie has sat on a number of regional boards and was the first ever female President and Chair of the North East Chamber of Commerce. In addition to her role with us, she is also a Trustee and Volunteer at The People’s Kitchen, The Chronicle Sunshine Fund and the Theatre Royal, York.

Mike is a public sector accountant. He worked in the NHS for over 34 years having been Director of Finance and Corporate Governance and Deputy Chief Executive at South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust. He previously carried out a similar role at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle. Mike has a long association with St Oswald’s Hospice, having served as Chairman of Trustees and Honorary Treasurer he was appointed as a Vice President in 2007.

Neil has been a consultant in Emergency Medicine for the Trust since 2003, and he has also served as the Deputy Medical Director since 2016. In 2021, he was seconded as the Interim Medical Director for the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board. He has extensive experience in postgraduate medical education, having previously held the positions of Director for Medical Trainee Revalidation and Director of Postgraduate Specialty Training within Health Education England North East. From 2008 to 2014, he served as the inaugural Head of the Postgraduate School for the Acute Specialties, which included Emergency Medicine, in the Northern Region. Additionally, he holds a master’s degree in educational development, where he focused on understanding how trainees learn and how teams work.