The Department of Health has announced the appointment of six Health and Social Care Trust Non-Executive Directors.
For South-Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, Kieran Donaghy, Raymond Havlin and Anne Quirk have been appointed as a Non-Executive (Lay) Directors. These appointments commenced on 15 February 2024 and will end on a date not later than 14 February 2028.
For Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Jackie Johnston has been appointed as a Non-Executive (Lay) Director. His appointment commenced on 15 February 2024 and will end on a date not later than 14 February 2028.
New appointees to the Northern Health and Social Care Trust are Scott Armstrong and George Platt as Non-Executive (Lay) Directors. Their appointments will commence on 1 March 2024 and end on a date not later than 29 February 2028.
HSC Trust Non-Executive Director positions require a time commitment of one day per week and attract a remuneration of £8,883 per annum.
These appointments are made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.
There are six HSC Trusts, each established to provide goods and services for the purposes of health and social care, and with the exception of the Ambulance Trust, they are also responsible for exercising on behalf of the Department certain statutory functions which are delegated to them by virtue of authorisations made under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1994. Each HSC Trust also has a statutory obligation to put and keep in place arrangements for monitoring and improving the quality of health and social care which it provides to individuals and the environment in which it provides them (Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (NI) Order 2003).
The Board is the governing body of each Trust, and for SEHSCT, NHSCT and SHSCT comprises a Non-Executive Chair and seven Non-Executive Directors along with five Executive Directors including the Chief Executive.
Notes to editors:
1. Kieran Donaghy retired as Director of Human Resources & Organisational Development from the Southern HSC Trust in August 2016. Kieran brings to the role a wealth of experience including change management and has extensive knowledge of corporate governance issues particularly within the public sector. Kieran currently holds two other public appointments one with the Department for Communities where he was appointed from March 2019 to February 2024 as a Commissioner with the Charity Commission Northern Ireland. The remuneration is £2,501** per annum for a 1 day per month time commitment. Kieran has also been appointed by the Department of Justice (NI) as a Board Member of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland from December 2019 to March 2025. The annual remuneration is £5,050 with a time commitment of 25 days per year. **(Since the 2019 McBride High Court Judgement all Commissioners are expected to serve on several decision-making committees throughout the year and are paid a daily rate for this additional work of £500).
2. Raymond Havlin is the Managing Director of a long-established family business in Northern Ireland. He has extensive experience of business leadership, strategy development, financial planning and risk management. He is a Board Member of Ulster Supported Employment Ltd and a Trustee Governor of a Bangor school.
3. Anne Quirk has over 20 years’ experience working in the private sector, mostly as a management consultant with Deloitte where she managed large scale transformation projects across the public sector. Anne currently runs her own consultancy business which focuses on organisational transformation, people and change and governance. A graduate of Queen’s University Belfast, Anne also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel and Management. She was previously a member of the Lay Panel for the Northern Ireland Medical Dental Training Agency and is a proud alumnus of the Boardroom Apprentice Programme having spent a year with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.
4. Jackie Johnston CBE is a former senior civil servant with wide experience of public administration including oversight of the corporate governance requirements for statutory bodies. During his career he has held senior policy positions in the areas of economic development, constitutional development, corporate regulation, urban regeneration, and the health service. Most recently, he was an Executive Board Member in the Department of Health and a member of the Rebuilding Board for Health and Social Care during the pandemic. He was awarded a CBE for services to healthcare. Jackie currently holds one other public appointment, as a Non-Executive Director of the Department of Justice’s Probation Board for Northern Ireland from 1 March 2022 for a period of 3 years. The annual remuneration is £5,050 with a time commitment of 25 days per year.
5. Scott Armstrong is the Market Unit Director for Expleo Group in Northern Ireland and has been a member of the senior management team in Ireland for over 16 years. With over 25 years’ experience in the IT industry, he has held a range of director roles in sales, operations and delivery management. Scott was central to the success and growth of Expleo NI, which has been a critical partner in large IT system implementations across the public and private sectors. His remit now also includes the transport, retail, and public sector markets throughout Ireland. He is an MSc graduate of Queen’s University Belfast, and holds distinctions in the Certificate and Diploma in Company Direction qualifications from the Institute of Directors. Scott is also a Non-Executive Director and Trustee on the Board of HMS Caroline, the Belfast Museum and visitor attraction.
6. George Platt is a graduate of University College, Durham University, where he achieved his master's degree in chemistry before undertaking subsequent research at Pai Chai University and Seoul National University on the Korean Government Scholarship Programme. George previously worked in scientific research, lecturing and project management roles before joining the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) on the new Graduate Management Programme in 2023. In 2023 George was a participant of the EU global cultural relations platform in Madrid and was also invited to represent the United Kingdom as its delegate and steering group member of the 13th UNESCO youth forum in Paris. Outside of his work with the NICS, George is a member of the Emerging Leaders programme at the William J Clinton Leadership Institute, Queen's University Belfast, and serves on the global advisory board of Generation Democracy, an international network which seeks to promote the meaningful participation of young people in decision-making processes and civic activity around the world.
7. Appointments to the HSC Trusts are made by the Department of Health.
8. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees to be published. All the appointees have declared that they have not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.
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