Board of Directors

The Board is responsible for the effective running of the Trust in line with established NHS objectives and priorities and in accordance with the highest standards of corporate governance.

It is also responsible for shaping the Trust's future and has a duty to consult and involve the Governors in the strategic planning of the organisation. The Chairman and non-executive directors are held to account by the Council of Governors of the Trust

If you have any queries regarding the Board of Directors, please email the Trust Company Secretary: huh-tr.enquiries@nhs.net

Mary became Chair of Homerton Healthcare on the 1 April 2025. Before this, Mary was Chair of Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, a position she held from 2020. Previously, Mary was Vice Chair of East London NHS Foundation Trust and served as a Non-Executive Director for Bart’s and the London NHS Trust and also Health Education England.

She has also been a Council Member for Queen Mary, University of London, a member of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel for the NHS and a council member of the General Pharmaceutical Council.  Mary’s commercial career was with the John Lewis Partnership, where she held a range of senior executive positions. Mary is passionate about ensuring that the voices of staff, patients and service users are heard. She aims to build on the Trust’s close connection to the local community as part of the important development of place-based working.

Tom joined the Trust in November 2019 as Chief People Officer having previously been the Director of Workforce, Improvement and Strategy at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital from 2015. Tom began his NHS career in 2006 as a national graduate scheme trainee and has worked across multiple London Trusts. He is a passionate advocate of Homerton Healthcare’s unique brilliance in the NHS.  

Tom has implemented a comprehensive people strategy at Homerton Healthcare (as well as across a number of other organisations) which have directly and measurably improved the experience of our people, Trust performance and outcomes. Tom believes in the importance of developing strategies and using them to guide decisions and support sustainably better care and outcomes for the people of City, Hackney and North East London.  

In his role as Deputy CEO and Chief Delivery Officer Tom leads on the Trust’s internal and external strategy, the organisation’s culture, collaboration with our NHS partner organisations in North East London. 

Dr Deblina Dasgupta has worked at Homerton for the past 13 years as a Consultant Physician in Geriatric and General Medicine. She has been Associate Medical Director since 2016 and Clinical Lead for Elderly Care, Stroke and Intermediate Care since 2012.

Deblina trained in a number of London hospitals including The Whittington, University College London and Newham before joining Homerton. She has been a leader in developing simulation training in geriatric and general internal medicine in London and an innovator in establishing the pioneering Integrated Independence Team for City and Hackney.

Deblina has led the successful medical productivity programme to improve patient journeys across the hospital and the community. She was Regional Chair of the British Geriatric Society (BGS) between 2009 and 2012 and England Council Member of the BGS during the same period.

Breeda joined the Trust in December 2021 from Whittington Health where she was Deputy Chief Nurse, and has worked in the NHS in a variety of clinical and managerial roles.

Breeda is an experienced renal nurse passionate about ensuring the delivery of high quality care to all service users, ensuring patient safety and engagement, and involvement of patients in all aspects in the delivery of their care. Breeda believes in engaging and supporting staff to develop as the key to achieving the delivery of safe effective care. She aspires to support and empower front line clinicians to continue to improve quality, safety, efficiencies and constantly strive to deliver patient centred services.

Breeda has led nurse education and research in her various roles including as Honorary Senior Lecturer at London South Bank University. She is currently undertaking the Florence Nightingale Senior Scholar programme.

Dr Mike Gill is an experienced senior medical leader.

From 2014-2018 he was Medical Director at Health 1000: The Wellness Practice, a new type of GP surgery which looked after patients with multiple medical conditions in their own homes. The Practice also supported the care of patients in Nursing Homes.

Prior to this he had been a Medical Director for over 12 years at Newham University Hospital NHS Trust, a similar role at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust and Associate Medical Director at Barts Health NHS Trust. He is Chair of Council of the London Clinical Senate and Chair of Kent and Medway Acute Stroke Services Joint Committee.

Mike was Joint Clinical Director for the Health for North East London programme nine years ago which looked at the configuration of provider services in east London.

Mike was Interim Medical Director at Homerton two years ago and his links to the hospital go back further as he was a Medical Registrar and later Senior Registrar at the hospital and on the commissioning team for the hospital in 1985-6 and remembers moving the first patient into the then new hospital building when it opened.

Dr Mark Rickets qualified over 30 years ago and has spent most of his medical career working as a GP in the London Borough of Hackney.

Following time spent working in under-graduate then post-graduate medical education he has undertaken a number of NHS management roles, notably: 2012 - 2021 as clinical lead for Primary Care across City and Hackney; 2018 - 2022 as Chair of City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and 2019 - 2022 as Clinical Responsible Officer for General Practice for the North East London Health and Care Partnership.

In 2022 he became one of the 2 Primary Care Partner Members on the newly formed Integrated Care Board for North East London’s Integrated Care System.

Prior to becoming a Non-executive Director at Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in 2020, he was, for a number of years, the City and Hackney CCG representative on the Trust’s Council of Governors.

Damien has extensive experience in finance, governance, and risk management across a range of sectors including banking, healthcare, social housing, and the voluntary sector. He has held senior roles in capital markets and on the board of internet start-ups, and has contributed to the boards of charities such as Crisis and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Damien is currently a Non-Executive Director and Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Chair at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. At Homerton Healthcare, Damien chairs the Audit and Risk Committee.

Andrew has extensive experience spanning strategy and operations in central and local government and the voluntary sector.

Andrew worked for the Treasury during the 1990s becoming head of the health team during the first comprehensive spending review.

He worked for Essex County Council, becoming Deputy Chief Executive (Finance and Performance) between 2002 and 2004. He re-joined central government as CEO of the Valuation Office Agency, and then rose to be Director General, Public Services at the Treasury for three years.

His current roles include being Chair of the Centre for Homelessness Impact and Chair of two arms-length housing companies for the London Borough of Brent.