Our Board of Directors: Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

We have a team of nine executive directors who are responsible for the day to day running of our organisation.

Chief Executive: Marsha Foster

Marsha Foster - Chief Executive.png Marsha began her NHS career in 1995 via the NHS General Management Training Scheme. She then undertook a range of general management and service development posts within mental health services in Birmingham and Solihull, before project managing a number of NHS mergers.

Marsha was the project director for the formation of Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Since then, she has developed a wide range of Board level experience, including operations, HR, communications and stakeholder engagement.

Marsha was appointed to the position of Chief Executive in January 2023.

Chief Operations Officer: Chris Masikane

Chris started his career as a general nurse, qualifying in 1987 and has a wealth of experience having worked in both acute, community and mental health services. He joined the Board at Black Country Partnership as Director of Operations, having previously been Divisional Director for Learning Disabilities and Children, Young People and Families.

Chris is passionate about delivering high quality care and supporting the wellbeing of staff.

Chief Medical Officer: Dr Mark Weaver

Image of Doctor Mark Weaver

Mark grew up in the Midlands and qualified at Kings College Hospital Medical School. Following post-graduate psychiatric qualifications in Birmingham, he completed higher training as a Senior Registrar, followed by a Clinical Research Fellowship and Consultant post in General Adult Psychiatry at St Bartholomew’s Hospital London. He was also lecturer and examiner for the undergraduate psychiatry course, examined for the University of London final MBBS examinations and ran the Royal College of Psychiatrists membership course.

Since 2004 he has been a Consultant in General Adult Psychiatry in Walsall and a senior medical manager since 2005. He was Medical Director at Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and a Board member since 2012. He is an alumnus of the Kings Fund Top Managers Programme and has a particular interest in leadership development and culture.

Acting Chief Medical Officer: Dr Madhava Rao

Dr Madhava Rao began his career in Mental Health by graduating with a MD in Psychiatry from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India. Since coming to the UK in 1998, he qualified as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in 2003.

He joined Black Country Mental Health Trust in 2006 as a Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist for Sandwell CAMHS and has also previously held the post of Medical Director for legacy Trust, Black Country Partnership.

Dr Rao’s clinical work is with Children and Families, however he has huge interest in improving our work with primary care so that mental health support is available earlier and closer to our Black Country population. He is also passionate about working with local hospitals and communities to help strengthen the urgent response to patients who need acute medical health support receive.

In May 2024, Dr Rao was appointed to the position of Acting Chief Medical Officer.

Chief Nursing Officer and Deputy CEO: Carolyn Green

Carolyn Green (2) WEB.jpg Carolyn Green is the Chief Nurse at Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. With extensive healthcare leadership experience, Carolyn steps into this pivotal role with a focus on personalised care recovery principles.

She is committed to involving people with lived experiences of mental health services in service evaluation, education, and quality improvement programs.

Carolyn always embraces technology and innovation and has designed many technical solutions during her NHS career. Her journey in healthcare began as a mental health nurse in South and West London in 1995. Since then, she has achieved a Masters in Health Service Management and served as a Senior Lecturer and Visiting Fellow.

Her passion for compassionate care and dedication to leveraging technology and innovation will help drive positive change and enhance the overall patient experience at Black Country Healthcare.

Carolyn was appointed Interim Deputy Chief Executive Officer for a 12 month period from September 2024.

Chief Finance Officer: Georgina Dean

Georgina has worked in the NHS since 2007 after nine years at Price Waterhouse Coopers where she worked with NHS organisations focusing on financial improvement and turnaround.

She has extensive experience in finance working across mental health and acute specialist providers and more recently at NHS England and NHS Improvement.

Georgina has also led IT, performance and Informatics teams, developing and implementing a digital strategy. She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England Wales.

Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer and Deputy CEO: Kuli Kaur-Wilson

Kuli Kaur-Wilson - Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer.png Kuli Kaur-Wilson is the chief strategy and partnerships officer at Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and executive-lead for the systems Black Country MH/LDA Lead Provider.

This was one of the very first lead provider arrangements established for locally commissioned MH and LDA services in the country, which brought strategic system planning, commissioning, resource allocation and quality assurance together alongside the provision of services. Kuli leads on the development of a range of partnerships, and the advancement of MH/LDA health equity.

Kuli was appointed Interim Deputy Chief Executive Officer for a 12 month period from September 2024.

Dr Laura McGowan - Chief Clinical Information Officer

Chief Clinical Information Officer:
Dr Laura McGowan

Dr. Laura McGowan serves on the Trust Board as Chief Clinical Information Officer and is one of our Clinical Executives. She is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who has worked in the NHS for over 20 years. Laura also has experience in the private and third sectors, having previously specialised in Young People's Mental Health and Neurodiversity. In addition to her clinical skills, Laura has expertise in leadership, training, systems change, and organisational development. She is the Trust Safety Sponsor for clinical digital systems and leads the Clinical Informatics Team, guiding the organisation through digital transformation.

Chief Therapies Officer: Susan Van Genderen

Susan Van Genderen joined the Trust as the Director of Therapies in March 2023 and went on to become Chief Therapies Officer. She previously worked as Lead Psychologist for Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust.

Susan began working in the Black Country over 26 years ago as an assistant psychologist in learning disabilities. During her career she has worked across a range of services including eating disorders and community mental health. Susan was the improving access to psychological therapies lead for Trust for 12 years.

Alongside her clinical work, Susan has also been a lecturer at the University of Birmingham.

Non-executive directors (NEDs) are members of the Trust’s Board of Directors, but don’t form part of the management team. They provide an independent oversight at Trust Board meetings and on committees.

Interim Chair: Philip Gayle

Philip joined the Trust on an interim basis at the beginning of December 2024.

He brings deep NHS and commercial experience to the role. He has been at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust since 2019, first as a Non-Executive Director before becoming Deputy Chair in 2022 and substantive Chair in March 2023, a position he will continue in.

Mr Gayle has extensive knowledge and leadership experience within the health, social care and housing sectors. In addition, to specialised skills as a business consultant, in transformation and improving organisational performance.

Non-Executive Director: Shaukat Ali

Shaukat has over 27 years' experience working in health, local authority Click and drag to move and voluntary sector organisations, and has an in-depth understanding of the NHS. He is currently the shadow cabinet member for Public Health and Adult Social Care, and has been an elected member in Dudley for the past 21 years.

Shaukat has previously worked in director roles at Dudley Citizens Advice Bureaux and St Thomas’s Community Network, as well as being deputy leader of the council, and has held various cabinet positions including regeneration and economic development, social services, housing and finance.

Non-Executive Director: Saba Gondal

Saba is an accomplished transformational leader with extensive experience in the public and private sector including the NHS, local authorities, strategic comminissioning and the education sector.

A local resident and passionate supporter of public services, Saba is keen to bring innovative approaches to organisational transformation in order to address inequalities and modernise services.

In the last few years, Saba has been working with active investors, in a consultant capacity and co-investor to develop a range of businesses. She has a track record of developing and delivering highly effective strategies in complex environments to turnaround services and build reputation for quality.

Non-Executive Director: Roger Dunshea

Roger started his NHS career as a student nurse in Glasgow. Over the years he developed his career in clinical, operational and financial management. This has included growing his expertise in regulatory systems, governance and service delivery.

In recent years he has completed successful terms as an independent audit committee member with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Medical Research Council and as a lay member of the General Chiropractic Council.

Non-Executive Director: Rachel McCarty

Rachel joined the Trust at the beginning of December 2024. She lives in Warwickshire and has worked across the Black Country for many years.

Rachel is a Registered Nurse by background and has worked for provider services in Sandwell, Walsall, Dudley, Birmingham and most recently Nottingham. She has worked in the NHS for 30 years and has spent the last 14 years working in the charitable sector focusing on end of life and palliative care.

Rachel has a MSc in ‘Managing Partnerships in Health & Social Care’ gained at the University of Birmingham. She has led partnership working with several organisations to improve access for patients requiring care.

Rachel is conversant with aspects of compliance, assurance, and regulation. She has held lead responsibility as Registered Manager, Executive Lead Nurse, Safeguarding Lead, Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer and Infection Control Lead. Rachel brings experience of operationally managing a wide variety of provider services within various settings including, hospice services, community provider services, intermediate care, discharge services and long-term conditions fields.

She has developed services from their inception including Hospice at Home, Lymphoedema, Community Nursing and Intermediate Care. Rachel brings a variety of clinical and strategic experience, a governance/quality background and operational leadership to the role. In addition, she has extensive partnership working experience. She has led complex investigations within large public sector organizations, and brings a fresh strategic approach to the role whilst using her extensive public and third sector knowledge.

Non-Executive Director: Dr Adedeji Okubadejo

Deji is an experienced clinician and healthcare leader who has worked in many sectors of healthcare planning and delivery in the UK, including NHS provider and commissioning sectors, as well as the independent healthcare sector. He spent over two decades as a consultant in anaesthesia and chronic pain management in NHS acute secondary care in Birmingham, including operating in the roles of clinical director, associate medical director and Caldicott Guardian.

He has extensive board experience having worked for ten years as group medical director and responsible officer in the independent healthcare sector, as well as being an independent secondary care doctor on the governing body of Clinical Commissioning Groups in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire for five years - as they navigated through a merger process. He currently works with NHS Derby and Derbyshire as a clinical Non-Executive board member on the Integrated Care Board, a role that he took up in 2023. He has also had regional and national roles in the development of frameworks for the professional regulation and support of doctors.

Deji has expertise in the management of clinical quality and patient safety as well as a focus on clinical outcomes, quality improvement, patient experience and health inequalities. Deji still practices clinically as a consultant anaesthetist on a part-time basis in the independent healthcare sector.

Non-Executive Director: Dr Felix Davies

Felix began his career in the NHS as a clinical psychologist. He became a Director of Psychological Services in two NHS Trusts, and was also Clinical Director of the National Demonstration Site in Doncaster for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, now called NHS Talking Therapies. He later provided clinical and professional leadership for 8 NHS IAPT services across the Midlands and North West.

He has also held senior health and social care leadership roles in charity and private sector organisations, including CEO at POhWER, the advocacy charity, and national committee roles at the NHS Confederation, Health Education England, Department of Health and Social Care and Ministry of Defence. His roles, which have included work in the USA, Germany, India and Japan, have covered the full range of care settings from hospitals, to outpatient, community, hospices, care homes, supported living and digital services.

Felix is passionate about co-production, partnership-working and continuous improvement (CI) to achieve great quality services, having introduced CI systems into two organisations. He is also strongly committed to equality, diversity and inclusion.

He is currently a non-executive director at the Patient Advocate Certification Board in the USA. He also provides coaching and other leadership development services, and consultancy in relation to strategy and organisational development, and continuous improvement

Felix is an HCPC-registered Practitioner Psychologist with a doctorate in clinical psychology and masters in criminology. He is also a Board Certified Patient Advocate, and an ILM level 7 trained executive/senior leader coach, and he holds an Advanced Process Improvement Certificate from Virgina Mason Institute.

Non-Executive Director: Junior Hemans

Junior was born and still lives in Wolverhampton. Junior is a very experienced businessman, property developer, management consultant and board member. He has developed several successful businesses and social sector organisations, whilst developing a successful professional career in the public sector. As a management consultant he worked at PwC for 10 years leading projects in housing and regeneration, education and social care. Latterly working as an independent consultant, he has completed assignments for Microsoft South Africa, Virgin Media and a number of social housing providers.

He was a founding member and first Treasurer of the African Caribbean Community Initiative mental health project. He served as Chair of Tuntum Housing Association for nine years, whilst also serving as a Non-Executive Director at Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and latterly Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust for a combined total of 10 years. Junior is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton Business School and is a Kings Trust mentor of over 15 years.

Members of the public or press can view papers for the May 2025 public board meeting using the following link: July 2025 Board Papers.

Members of the public and press are also encouraged to submit questions on the agenda for the next board meeting to the Trust Secretary, Katrina Smith at k.smith136@nhs.net.

2025/2026

Date	Time	Venue
7 May 2025	10.15am public 2.00pm private	Committee Room 5, The Civic Centre, Wolverhampton
June 2025 – date TBC (extra-ordinary meeting to sign off annual report and accounts)	TBC	TBC
2 July 2025	10.15am public 2.00pm private	Conference Room 1, Dudley Technology College
3 September 2025	10.15am public 2.00pm private	Committee Room 5, The Civic Centre, Wolverhampton
5 November 2025	10.15am public 2.00pm private	Conference Room 1, Dudley Technology College
21 January 2026	10.15am public 2.00pm private	Conference Room 1, Dudley Technology College
4 March 2026	10.15am public 2.00pm private	Conference Room 1, Dudley Technology College

2025-2026

Date	Time	Venue
11 April 2025	11am – 1.00pm	TBC
11 July 2025	11am – 1.00pm	TBC
TBC (AGM)	11am – 1.00pm	TBC
10 October 2025	11am – 1.00pm	TBC
16 January 2026	11am – 1.00pm	TBC

Board of Directors Register of Interests

2025 Trust Board Meeting Papers

2024 Trust Board Meeting Papers

2023 Trust Board Meeting Papers

2022 Trust Board Meeting Papers

2021 Trust Board Meeting Papers

2020 Trust Board Meeting Papers

Our Board of Directors