The Board

Colin Lynch became joint chair of Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust and Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust on Tuesday, 1 July 2026.

He brings extensive board level experience across NHS community and mental health services. His work focuses on service transformation, system leadership, board effectiveness and cultural development.

Colin was previously vice chair at North East London NHS Foundation Trust and had been its senior independent director. He is also chair of Locala Health and Wellbeing, a social enterprise delivering community health and wellbeing services.

As joint chair, Colin works with both boards, chief executives, governors and system partners to support joined up leadership across services. His priorities include strengthening collaboration, supporting financial sustainability and improving outcomes for local communities.

He has a strong interest in partnership working across primary care, local government and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, alongside promoting inclusive leadership and colleague development.

Colin’s previous professional career was as a solicitor in private practice, including 20 years with a leading healthcare law firm. During that time, he led legal and multidisciplinary teams on some of the UK’s largest and most complex healthcare projects, partnerships and procurement programmes, spanning acute, mental health and community services.

Colin is married to Lucy and they have two grown-up children. Outside work, he enjoys following regional and national cricket and travelling.

Mairead is an experienced NHS director with 35 years in the NHS. She is an emergency nurse by background having trained in her native Northern Ireland.

She has spent the majority of her career with the NHS in the UK but has also worked in other health and care systems in Australia and
New Zealand.

Prior to becoming chief executive, she was the deputy chief executive and chief operating officer at Kingston hospital.

In this period the trust moved from a CQC rating of requires improvement to outstanding. She also operationally led the trust through the pandemic and early recovery.

She has a national reputation for her improvement work in emergency care, working with NHS England to support systems to embed good practice.

Moving from acute services to community services was motivated by her interests in preventing ill health. She is driven by improving outcomes and plays an active role in working with local people to shape health and care for the future.

Caroline joined KCHFT in June 2024.

She has worked as a nurse for more than 20 years and has held a range of senior nursing roles across the NHS.

The mum-of-three has worked extensively in acute care and was divisional director of nursing for medicine, cancer and emergency care at Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust.

After studying to become a nurse at King’s College London, Caroline worked at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust on the stroke unit as a newly qualified nurse, before returning to Kent as a nurse at Sittingbourne and Sheppey community hospitals.

She then went on to specialise in stroke and has fulfilled specialist stroke nurse roles at Medway Community Healthcare and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

In 2016, Caroline joined Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust for her first head of nursing role as lead nurse for specialist medicine, where she gained a huge amount of experience, before expanding her portfolio in corporate nursing roles, including associate director of risk and compliance, and divisional nurse for cancer and clinical support.

Two years later, Caroline returned to Dartford and Gravesham where she has developed from head of nursing for medicine and emergency department (ED), to associate director of nursing and therapies for medicine, cancer and emergency care, and then into her current role as divisional director of nursing. During this time, she oversaw ED and medicine moving from being rated ‘requires improvement’ by the Care Quality Commission to ‘good’.

Dr Afifa Qazi holds a dual role as Interim Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at  Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) and is CMO at  Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust (KMMH). Dr Qazi has extensive senior clinical and leadership experience in community based care, spanning direct clinical delivery, service redesign, medical education, and system level leadership.

Dr Qazi is a consultant psychiatrist for older adults with a special interest in the care of people living with dementia and is widely recognised for her person centred approach to community based mental health services. She won the HSJ Award for Community Services Redesign in 2016 and the East of England Academic Health Science Network (EAHSN) Health Innovation Award in 2014 for transforming community crisis services for people with dementia. In 2022, she was awarded the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Psychiatrist of the Year Award, with judges commending her outstanding commitment to patient centred care.

She has been instrumental in developing strong partnerships with the Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS), where she holds a Clinical Lecturer post and takes an active role in teaching medical students in community settings. Dr Qazi is passionate about medical education and has led the delivery of robust training programmes for psychiatry trainees, resulting in significant improvements in recruitment and retention, with many trainees choosing to remain in Kent following completion of their training. Her leadership has also contributed to a substantial reduction in reliance on agency doctors.

At KMMH, Dr Qazi is the Executive Lead for the BME Network, championing equality, diversity and inclusion across the organisation. Prior to her current roles, she worked at North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) as a Consultant Psychiatrist and Associate Medical Director, overseeing services across Essex and Kent.

Afifa is Caldicott Guardian for Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Gordon is a fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA) and has a professional background in NHS finance spanning 39 years. Following an early career with health authorities, his director experience is with acute and community trusts and has been at the trust since 2011.

His responsibilities include financial management and control, capital and audit, IM&T and performance and business intelligence.

Ali qualified as a Registered General Nurse in 1994 and has since pursued numerous postgraduate studies, including becoming a Registered Mental Health Nurse in 2004. She graduated from the NHS Leadership Academy with the Nye Bevan Executive Healthcare Leadership Award in 2014.

With over 30 years of experience in the NHS, Ali has held various senior positions across London, Devon, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex and has been an Executive Board member since 2016.

Ali is committed to addressing health inequalities, prioritising the needs of disadvantaged groups and advocating for equitable access to services. With a focus on prevention, Ali believes in empowering families and communities to ensure that every child receives the care they need for a healthy start in life. Her clinical expertise spans acute, community, and mental health nursing, and she has also held a national position with NHS England, where she offered clinical leadership to the National Ebola Team.

Rachel Dalton joined Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust as our new chief allied health professions officer (CAHPO) in September 2023

A physiotherapist by background, Rachel has more than 25 years’ clinical and leadership experience in Australia and the UK. A graduate from the NHS Leadership Academy’s Clinical Executive Fast-track Scheme, she was group director of AHPs and psychological professions at Barts Health NHS Trust in London before joining us.

Rachel is passionate about improving patient experience, pathways and outcomes with multi-disciplinary clinical leadership and making sure colleagues have a great work experience.

Faham came to the UK as a refugee and through his own lived experience he was inspired into youth work straight from school. As part of youth offender programmes, he became one of the youngest youth workers in the capital and has used that insight to bring value to a range of advisory committees. This includes youth work in challenging inner-city boroughs such as Newham and Tower Hamlets, as well as advisory panels on agendas such as child protection, social housing and more recently health.

He has become a Lay Chair for the Appointments Committee at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT). Faham is particularly attracted to community services and, having moved to Dartford, he wants to work closer to communities he knows.

His passion for ensuring equality of access to opportunities and health equity are key drivers in the application. He is also a trustee of local charities, such as MIND, and part of the England Rugby Inclusive Leadership Delivery Group – seeing how the power of sport can engage communities.

Faham was appointed as an associate non-executive director on 1 September 2024.

Committee membership and board champion roles

• Member of Finance, Business and Investment committee
• Member of People committee
• Member of the Remuneration committee
• Faham is a non-voting member of the Board.

Olu is an experienced non-executive board member, chair, business leader and speaker who has held positions in the public, charity, and private sectors. He currently serves as a non-executive for Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust, Sanctuary Housing and the Royal College of Nursing. With a focus on providing strategic guidance and expertise, Olu operates as a trusted independent advisor, trainer, and interim C-Suite executive.

Olu’s areas of specialisation include cybersecurity, information security and digital transformation.

Additionally, Olu serves as a business mentor with the Government “Help to Grow” scheme and has mentored start-ups at the University of West London Enterprise Hub, where he also assisted with commercialising start-up ideas. Olu is also a professional member of BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, a Young Enterprise judge, and a Magistrate. Olu co-founded CXB Limited, a not-for-profit forum focused on equipping board members for effective cyber governance.

Other previous roles include being regional leader for a global technology company, CEO and chair of a chamber of commerce, chair and trusteeship for several charities, non-executive director for the Federation of Small Businesses, and a board member for the Government-sponsored Science and Innovation Audit on Sustainable Airports led by Brunel University.

Olu was appointed as a non-executive director on 1 September 2024.

Committee membership and board champion role

• Chair of Finance, Business and Investment committee
• Deputy chair of Audit and Risk committee
• Deputy chair of Charitable Funds committee
• Member of Remuneration committee
• Non-Executive Director champion for Security Management (assets only).

Stephen has had a long and varied public sector career. At the Department of Health his roles included private secretary to the Secretary of State for Health, Head of the National Cancer Programme and chief of staff for a former Chief Executive of the NHS. He ran a whole health economy NHS reconfiguration programme in south west London, and led the production of the cross-Government Mental Health Strategy, ‘No Health without Mental Health’.

Stephen has been a non-executive director at Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust since January 2023.  He has worked for a number of years on an interim, part-time basis for the Greater London Authority on health and care policy and partnership working.

Stephen recently stepped down, after a six-year term of office, from the role of vice chair of trustees for a leading national charity that works alongside people with an acquired brain injury and physical disabilities. The charity offers specialist community-based and residential support to help them live as independently as possible.

Committee membership

• Member of the Finance, Business and Investment Committee
• Member of the Remuneration Committee.

Andy is a GP, with a strong clinical and leadership background and who sees the future of community services as central to the future of health systems. Andy has successfully progressed into leadership roles in systems. He became a successful chief executive officer at a clinical commissioning group, before spending time in 2021/22 in the national NHS England team.

His work in the national chief operating officer directorate was at a time of developing guidance for the new integrated care boards – with Andy’s focus particularly around place-based working and clinical leadership. He stopped being a GP Partner in March 2024 but still does some sessional work as a GP.

He is passionate about continual learning and has undertaken a Masters in International Health, as well as carrying out wider work with the King’s Fund, publishing a document about moving care closer to home. Andy is also currently the clinical chair for the National Association of Primary Care.

Andy was appointed as an associate non-executive director on 1 September 2024.

Committee membership

• Member of the Quality Committee
• Member of the Remuneration Committee
• Andy is a non-voting member of the Board.

Dr MaryAnn Ferreux MBChB MPH FRACMA FCHSM FFCI CHE FRCP(Edin)

Her career spans senior executive and clinical leadership roles across the UK and Australia. She is Chief Medical Officer at Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex and Implementation Director for the NIHR Applied Research Collaborative Kent, Surrey and Sussex (ARC KSS), where she leads programmes focused on innovation, translational research, implementation, digital transformation, and population health across the NHS.

She is a Council member and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and Chair of its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. MaryAnn also serves on the Board of the NHS Innovation Accelerator, supporting the spread and adoption of high-impact innovations across the NHS, and is Health Executive in Residence at UCL Global Business School for Health.

MaryAnn is currently undertaking a Doctor of Public Health and Policy at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, researching health inequalities and access to care for underserved populations. Her national leadership roles and executive experience enable her to bring strategic insight, innovation expertise, and robust clinical governance to her role as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of Quality Committee at Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust.

MaryAnn was appointed as a non-executive director on 1 September 2024

Committee membership

• Chair of the Quality committee
• Member of the Audit and Risk committee
• Member of the Remuneration committee.

Kim has spent most of her career at John Lewis Partnership and for more than 37 years she has worked across people, customer service, employee engagement, human resources and business.

She progressed through various operational and general management leadership roles, being appointed managing director of John Lewis Bluewater in 2014. In 2007, she was appointed partnership board director and also as a member of the audit and risk and remuneration committees.

Her final role was to lead the pension review at John Lewis before leaving in 2020 to continue to build her portfolio non-executive director career in the public and private sector, including John Lewis Partnership, Central Surrey Health, Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, as well as a council lay member at the University of Kent and joint trust chair of a school’s academy trust in Medway.

Kim says: “I am passionate about employee engagement. I truly believe it lies at the heart of a successful enterprise. An empowered workforce delivers better service and a happier working environment for all. That’s why I was attracted to KCHFT, it has strong values and understands the importance of an inclusive culture.”

Kim was appointed as a non-executive director on 1 February 2022.

Committee membership and board champion role

• Deputy Chair of the Trust
• Chair of People committee
• Deputy Chair of the Finance Business and Investment committee
• Member of the Remuneration committee
• Non-Executive Director champion for Staff Health and Wellbeing.

Razia has more than 30 years’ experience in the social sector, public sector and in higher education at the national and local level in the UK. She has worked on the management and strategic level for the past 15 years and has worked with marginalised communities throughout her career.

Razia is the Chief Executive Officer of the Kent Refugee Action Network, a regional charity supporting separated refugee and asylum-seeking young people in the care system since 2016. She is also a member of the Advisory Group for the Refugee Action Insight Hub and has recently taken on the role of Parish Councillor. Previously, Razia was Head of the ESRC Third Sector Research Centre Knowledge Exchange Team and served as a member of the Children in Need South East Grants Panel.

In 2020, she was awarded a PhD in international politics focusing on critical social moments and the capability approach. She has also worked with NICE to develop national guidance on community engagement in health and was a founding trustee of the People’s Health Lottery.

Razia was appointed as a non-executive director on 1 February 2022 and became the Senior Independent Director (SID) of the Board on 1 October 2024.

Committee membership

• Senior Independent Director (SID)
• Deputy Chair of Remuneration committee
• Chair of Charitable Funds committee
• Deputy Chair of the People committee
• Member of the Quality committee
• Deputy Chair of Nominations committee.

Karen has more than 25 years’ experience leading research teams examining the challenges facing healthcare and life sciences organisations and publishing her findings in order to improve services for patients, carers and the public.

Karen established Deloitte UK’s Centre for Health Solution in November 2011 and led this independent research arm of Deloitte’s Life Sciences and Health Care (LSHC) practice until November 2025. The Centre combined creative thinking, robust research and industry experience to develop evidence-based perspectives on some of the biggest and most challenging healthcare issues to help clients transform the efficiency and cost effectiveness of service delivery and, importantly, improve outcomes and experiences for staff and patient. After 14 years of developing influential research insights and thought leadership and supporting clients to transform services, Karen retired from Deloitte in November 2025.

Before joining Deloitte, Karen was the Director of Health Value for Money Audit at the National Audit Office delivering reports to Parliament on health-related issues. In 2002, Karen received an OBE for her work on Health Value for Money Audit work.

Karen is a member of the Institute of Chartered Public Finance and Accountants and has extensive experience in leading research into healthcare and life-science issues in the UK and internationally. She also spent 10 years as a non-executive director at Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, where she chaired the Audit Committee.

Karen, from Sevenoaks, said: “The NHS has faced the most challenging and unprecedent circumstances, which has exposed amazing strength and a willingness to adopt innovation and work differently. The next few years will be challenging but there will be opportunities for service transformation, adoption of innovative technologies and new business and operating models. I look forward to being part of this.”

Karen was appointed as a non-executive director on 1 February 2022.

Committee membership and board champion role

• Chair of Audit and Risk committee
• Deputy Chair of Quality committee
• Member of Remuneration committee
• Non-Executive Director champion for Freedom to Speak Up.

• Chief medical officer to be shared by Kent mental health and community trusts

Sarah is a GP at Newton Place Surgery in Faversham, Kent.

Prior to joining KCHFT as the medical director, Sarah was clinical chair of Canterbury and Coastal Clinical Commissioning Group and chair of East Kent Strategy Board.

The Board was set up by local health and care commissioners to spearhead the drive to determine how best to provide health and care services to the population of east Kent. Its work is now part of the wider Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board agenda. Sarah’s work on the East Kent Strategy Board included reviewing issues around staff retention, the use of technology, buildings and estates, and clinical pathways such as maternity, paediatrics, end-of-life care and mental health.

Until April 2017, Sarah was also commissioner co-chair of Kent and Medway Sustainability and Transformation Partnership Clinical Board, which was set up to make sure the NHS future plans met the health and social care needs of the communities it serves. Sarah’s professional interests include Quality Improvement and medical leadership.