News Release Page Title

16 March 2007

APPOINTMENTS TO THE NEW SOUTH EASTERN HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES TRUST

The appointment of 7 non-executive directors to the new South Eastern Health and Social Services Trust has been announced.

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety today announced that the Minister responsible, Paul Goggins, has appointed the following non-executive directors to the new South Eastern Health and Social Services (HSS) Trust:

Mr Peter Davison

Mr Donal Flanagan

Miss Francesca Graham

Ms Deepa Mann-Kler

Mr Nigel Mansley

Mr Dermot O’Hara

Mr John Trethowan

The appointments are for the period from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2011.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

  1. On 22 November 2005, Shaun Woodward announced a major programme of HPSS structural reform within the context of the wide ranging Review of Public Administration (RPA). One of these reforms was the establishment of five new HSS Trusts to replace eighteen of the existing 19 HSS Trusts (the Ambulance Service Trust will remain separate).

  2. All five new Trusts will be responsible for the full range of services, removing the distinction between acute, community and mixed Trusts. They will be fully operational from 1 April 2007, when the existing Trusts will be dissolved.

  3. HSS Trusts are responsible for providing health and social services to their resident populations. The new South Eastern HSS Trust will amalgamate the current Ulster Community & Hospitals HSS Trust and Down Lisburn HSS Trust. This will include the current local government districts of Ards, North Down, Down and Lisburn.

  4. Each HSS Trust is run by a board of directors, which comprises a non-executive Chair, seven non-executive directors and five executive directors. Executive directors are employees of the Trust.

  5. Non-executive directors of the new HSS Trusts will receive annual remuneration of £7,500.

  6. Appointments to HSS Trusts are made with the approval of the Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety. There are no specific qualifications for appointment. Each person is appointed to act in a personal capacity and not to represent any particular interest or group.

  7. The appointments were made in accordance with the Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland. A selection panel, which included an independent assessor, as required under the Commissioner’s Code, considered the suitability of all candidates. The final decision on appointment rested with the Minister.

  8. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for the political activity of appointees (if any declared) to be published. The appointees declared that they had not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

APPOINTMENTS

Mr Peter Davison BA lives in Bangor. A practising lawyer, he is currently a senior litigation partner with a Belfast-based firm of solicitors that specialises in healthcare law. Mr Davison’s particular specialist field is construction law and he is a mediator accredited by the Law Society. Mr Davison intends to retire from 30 years of legal practice in May 2007. He holds no other public appointments and has not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

Mr Donal Flanagan lives in Crossgar. A former teacher, he is Chief Executive of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools. Mr Flanagan is also a member of both the Regional Training Unit and the Teachers’ Salaries Negotiating Committee, for the Department of Education. He is also the inaugural former Chair of Crossgar Community Association. Mr Flanagan is a non-executive director of Down Lisburn HSS Trust, for which he receives £5,508 per annum. He has not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

Miss Francesca Graham OBE lives in Bangor. A former business partner in the private sector, Miss Graham is former Deputy Chair of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland. Until 2005, she was a Trustee of the NI Police Fund. Miss Graham is currently a non-executive member of the Eastern HSS Board, for which she receives £5,508 per annum, and a lay panel member for Industrial Tribunals, for which she receives a daily rate of £157.50. She has not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

Ms Deepa Mann-Kler MSc lives in Killyleagh. Ms Mann-Kler is a Co-ordination Manager at the NI Equality Commission and was formerly an Equality Officer at Belfast City Council. She is also a management committee member (former Co- Chair) of Women Into Politics, and a member of the Race Funding Selection Committee, OFMDFM. Ms Mann-Kler is a former Chair of Killyleagh Community Association and a former non-executive director of Victim Support NI. She holds no other public appointments and has not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

Mr Nigel Mansley BSc FCA lives in Bangor. An accountant by profession, Mr Mansley has been a self-employed management consultant, specialising in corporate training and change management. He is a Trustee of the Ocean Youth Trust NI and a member of the Ulster Society of Chartered Accountants. Mr Mansley is currently a non-executive director of Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust, for which he receives £5,508 per annum. He has not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

Mr Dermot O’Hara MA BSSc lives in Drumbeg. Mr O’Hara works for the NI Housing Executive and is currently Project Manager of Modernising Services. Mr O’Hara is a non-executive director of Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust, for which he receives £5,508 per annum. He has not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

Mr John Trethowan MBA lives in Lisbane. Mr Trethowan is an Executive Director of the National Irish Bank, having formerly held a similar position with the Northern Bank from 1994. He was recently President of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland and Chair of the National Irish Bank Pension Trustees Ltd. Mr Trethowan is a board member of Business in the Community (Ireland) and has been a member of the Taoiseach’s task force on Active Citizenship since 2006. He holds no other public appointments and has not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

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