Our board supports Spectrum to deliver high quality services, helping to ensure our future development. We have an outstanding team of board members with a wide variety of skills, knowledge, and sector experience.
Our board
After a senior career in transport – running trains, trams and buses across the UK and Australia, Peter Strachan joined the NHS in 2018 and served as Chair of the North East Ambulance Service until 2024, also chairing the Northern Ambulance Alliance, the Provider Collaborative for ambulance services in the North of England and the East Midlands.
Peter is now a non-executive Board member for Transport for London, Transport for Wales and Transport for Wales, Rail. He is also Chair of the National Transport Authority, Ireland.
He currently serves on the Boards of Merseyrail and Caledonian Sleeper and the Board of the Rail Delivery Group.
Away from public transport and health, Peter chairs the Board of UKROEd, the trading subsidiary of the Road Safety Trust which operates the National Driver Offender Retraining scheme on behalf of the Police Forces of England and Wales.
Peter is a BA Hons graduate in geography from the University of Durham and is a Member of the Chartered Institution of Railway Operators.
Kevin is an experienced leader and board member. He was the CEO of Lancashire Probation Trust, and is also currently standing in as Acting Chair as well as continuing his role as Non Executive Director with North Tees and Hartlepool NHS.
During his 30 year probation career, Kevin operated at every level, from an assistant in a probation hostel (Approved Premises) to Chief Executive. He managed a multitude of challenging behaviours and situations, as well as leading on local implementation of national structural reforms.
Kevin also supports local communities as an avid charity fund raiser and coach of an U16 rugby team.
Carol brings over three decades of experience in the NHS, with the majority of her career rooted in West Yorkshire. Most recently, she served as the Accountable Officer for Kirklees within the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, a role she held until March 2025.
Throughout her career, Carol has played a key role in shaping local health services. She has held senior leadership positions in the ICB’s predecessor organisations, where she led major programmes of strategic change, primary care commissioning, and organisational development. Her deep understanding of the health and care landscape is matched by a passion for improving services and outcomes for local communities.
In addition to her role with Spectrum, Carol is a governor at a local Academy Trust secondary school and a trustee of the Kirklees Citizen’s Advice and Law Centre – reflecting her strong commitment to public service and community support.
With over 43 years of service in the NHS, Jackie is an experienced healthcare leader with a steadfast commitment to enhancing patient health, refining the healthcare system, and fostering development.
Throughout her tenure in the NHS, Jackie has held various clinical and senior leadership positions in nursing and midwifery practice, spanning acute and community care provision, as well as commissioning and system support.
As the Operations Director for North of England Care System Support (NECS) for over a decade, Jackie spearheaded a diverse array of services. Collaborating with executive colleagues, she played a pivotal role in shaping organisational vision, strategic direction, and fostering a culture geared towards enhancing outcomes for patients and communities. Jackie remained dedicated to upholding NHS values while drawing upon insights and best practices from the commercial sector.
Recently retired from her directorial role at NECS, Jackie continues to serve as a Trustee for an education multi-academy trust, a charity aiding Refugee and Asylum Seekers, and a Dementia support organisation in her hometown of Darlington. In her leisure time, she remains active by participating in social group runs and enjoying leisurely walks with her dog.
Andrew brings a wealth of financial management expertise garnered over 30 years, complemented by his fellowship with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
With the majority of his career focused within the transport sector, Andrew’s last 12 years have been dedicated to Network Rail, the esteemed public sector entity responsible for overseeing the UK’s rail infrastructure. Currently serving as the Route Finance Director, Andrew has played a pivotal role in ensuring the financial health and operational efficiency of this vital national asset.
Andrew’s proficiency spans a broad spectrum of financial disciplines, including business planning and forecasting, financial compliance, governance, risk management, assurance, and business process enhancement. His extensive experience and acumen make him a valuable asset in driving forward strategic decision-making and fostering financial resilience.
Linda is the founding Chief Executive of Spectrum and also is a trustee of the charity Spectrum People and Executive Chair of SLD Training, both of which are part of the Spectrum family.
Linda is a board member and workforce lead for Wakefield District Health & Care Partnership and plays an active role in the regional West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership.
A former Wakefield GP, Linda has championed the needs of vulnerable people for over 15 years. She is a passionate advocate for patient centred, values based services, with an interest in health inclusion, system change, substance misuse recovery and workforce wellbeing. Linda was awarded an OBE in the 2021 New Year’s Honours for services to the NHS.
Sharon is a qualified accountant under the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. She is responsible for all aspects of Spectrum’s finance, IM&T, performance, estates, corporate services and business administration. She is also the Company Secretary and SIRO for the organisation.
Before joining Spectrum, she was Chief Financial Officer for WDCHS. Along with managing the budget for the community services of Wakefield, she also led the due diligence process under the transforming community services agenda. Prior to this, Sharon had 13 years NHS finance experience, ranging from provider services finance to commissioning finance, including Primary Medical Services contracts for the Wakefield GPs.
Petra has over 30 years of experience working in health and social care across a number of sectors – including community and mental health, teaching hospitals, specialist services, regional system roles, with experience at a social enterprise. Petra’s leadership and Director experience spans workforce transformation, education and training, culture, quality improvement, transformation, and general management, all with a focus on people centred approaches.
Her motivation is to develop compassionate and inclusive working environments, where staff are able to thrive, develop and be themselves to be able to provide excellent care to service users.
Petra appreciates the wealth of skills, expertise and passion of those working in Spectrum and the huge difference we make to people’s lives everyday through the work off all colleagues. She is committed to co-production and collaboration to enable a wide range of different voices and perspectives to be sought out, heard and then used to inform and shape what we do and how we go about doing things.
Patrick brings a wealth of operational leadership experience from across health and social care. Before joining Spectrum, Patrick held several executive leadership positions, including Deputy Chief Executive at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, and Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, where he also served as Interim Chief Executive. His career has included leadership across secure services, prisons, addictions, mental health, learning disability and community services, giving him a deep understanding of the environments in which many of our teams work every day.
Patrick is responsible for our Sexual Health Services, Primary Care, our Liaison & Diversion services, Community Substance Misuse as well as our North East, North West and Yorkshire prisons and Manchester Short Term Holding Centre. He also leads our nursing and quality team, with responsibility for EPRR, Safeguarding, Professional Nursing/AHP Standards and IPC.
Dr Kuppuswamy is an experienced clinician and medical leader committed to improving patient and population outcomes through collaboration, digital innovation and quality improvement. With experience across acute, mental health, primary, dental care and commissioning settings, he is skilled at engaging and influencing system partners to deliver integrated, patient-centred care.
With over 20 years of clinical and leadership experience, Dr Kuppuswamy has led large multidisciplinary teams, driven transformation across complex healthcare systems and championed compassionate, value-based leadership. His expertise spans clinical governance, workforce development and digital transformation, with a strong focus on embedding continuous quality improvement and empowering staff at every level to achieve excellence in care.
He holds an MBA from Warwick Business School, is a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and has a particular interest in digital health and system-wide collaboration to deliver better outcomes for patients and communities.
Linda is the founding Chief Executive of Spectrum and also is a trustee of the charity Spectrum People and Executive Chair of SLD Training, both of which are part of the Spectrum family.
Linda is a board member and workforce lead for Wakefield District Health & Care Partnership and plays an active role in the regional West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership.
A former Wakefield GP, Linda has championed the needs of vulnerable people for over 15 years. She is a passionate advocate for patient centred, values based services, with an interest in health inclusion, system change, substance misuse recovery and workforce wellbeing. Linda was awarded an OBE in the 2021 New Year’s Honours for services to the NHS.
Sharon is a qualified accountant under the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. She is responsible for all aspects of Spectrum’s finance, IM&T, performance, estates, corporate services and business administration. She is also the Company Secretary and SIRO for the organisation.
Before joining Spectrum, she was Chief Financial Officer for WDCHS. Along with managing the budget for the community services of Wakefield, she also led the due diligence process under the transforming community services agenda. Prior to this, Sharon had 13 years NHS finance experience, ranging from provider services finance to commissioning finance, including Primary Medical Services contracts for the Wakefield GPs.
Petra has over 30 years of experience working in health and social care across a number of sectors – including community and mental health, teaching hospitals, specialist services, regional system roles, with experience at a social enterprise. Petra’s leadership and Director experience spans workforce transformation, education and training, culture, quality improvement, transformation, and general management, all with a focus on people centred approaches.
Her motivation is to develop compassionate and inclusive working environments, where staff are able to thrive, develop and be themselves to be able to provide excellent care to service users.
Petra appreciates the wealth of skills, expertise and passion of those working in Spectrum and the huge difference we make to people’s lives everyday through the work off all colleagues. She is committed to co-production and collaboration to enable a wide range of different voices and perspectives to be sought out, heard and then used to inform and shape what we do and how we go about doing things.
Patrick brings a wealth of operational leadership experience from across health and social care. Before joining Spectrum, Patrick held several executive leadership positions, including Deputy Chief Executive at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, and Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, where he also served as Interim Chief Executive. His career has included leadership across secure services, prisons, addictions, mental health, learning disability and community services, giving him a deep understanding of the environments in which many of our teams work every day.
Patrick is responsible for our Sexual Health Services, Primary Care, our Liaison & Diversion services, Community Substance Misuse as well as our North East, North West and Yorkshire prisons and Manchester Short Term Holding Centre. He also leads our nursing and quality team, with responsibility for EPRR, Safeguarding, Professional Nursing/AHP Standards and IPC.
Dr Kuppuswamy is an experienced clinician and medical leader committed to improving patient and population outcomes through collaboration, digital innovation and quality improvement. With experience across acute, mental health, primary, dental care and commissioning settings, he is skilled at engaging and influencing system partners to deliver integrated, patient-centred care.
With over 20 years of clinical and leadership experience, Dr Kuppuswamy has led large multidisciplinary teams, driven transformation across complex healthcare systems and championed compassionate, value-based leadership. His expertise spans clinical governance, workforce development and digital transformation, with a strong focus on embedding continuous quality improvement and empowering staff at every level to achieve excellence in care.
He holds an MBA from Warwick Business School, is a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and has a particular interest in digital health and system-wide collaboration to deliver better outcomes for patients and communities.
After a senior career in transport – running trains, trams and buses across the UK and Australia, Peter Strachan joined the NHS in 2018 and served as Chair of the North East Ambulance Service until 2024, also chairing the Northern Ambulance Alliance, the Provider Collaborative for ambulance services in the North of England and the East Midlands.
Peter is now a non-executive Board member for Transport for London, Transport for Wales and Transport for Wales, Rail. He is also Chair of the National Transport Authority, Ireland.
He currently serves on the Boards of Merseyrail and Caledonian Sleeper and the Board of the Rail Delivery Group.
Away from public transport and health, Peter chairs the Board of UKROEd, the trading subsidiary of the Road Safety Trust which operates the National Driver Offender Retraining scheme on behalf of the Police Forces of England and Wales.
Peter is a BA Hons graduate in geography from the University of Durham and is a Member of the Chartered Institution of Railway Operators.
Kevin is an experienced leader and board member. He was the CEO of Lancashire Probation Trust, and is also currently standing in as Acting Chair as well as continuing his role as Non Executive Director with North Tees and Hartlepool NHS.
During his 30 year probation career, Kevin operated at every level, from an assistant in a probation hostel (Approved Premises) to Chief Executive. He managed a multitude of challenging behaviours and situations, as well as leading on local implementation of national structural reforms.
Kevin also supports local communities as an avid charity fund raiser and coach of an U16 rugby team.
Carol brings over three decades of experience in the NHS, with the majority of her career rooted in West Yorkshire. Most recently, she served as the Accountable Officer for Kirklees within the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, a role she held until March 2025.
Throughout her career, Carol has played a key role in shaping local health services. She has held senior leadership positions in the ICB’s predecessor organisations, where she led major programmes of strategic change, primary care commissioning, and organisational development. Her deep understanding of the health and care landscape is matched by a passion for improving services and outcomes for local communities.
In addition to her role with Spectrum, Carol is a governor at a local Academy Trust secondary school and a trustee of the Kirklees Citizen’s Advice and Law Centre – reflecting her strong commitment to public service and community support.
With over 43 years of service in the NHS, Jackie is an experienced healthcare leader with a steadfast commitment to enhancing patient health, refining the healthcare system, and fostering development.
Throughout her tenure in the NHS, Jackie has held various clinical and senior leadership positions in nursing and midwifery practice, spanning acute and community care provision, as well as commissioning and system support.
As the Operations Director for North of England Care System Support (NECS) for over a decade, Jackie spearheaded a diverse array of services. Collaborating with executive colleagues, she played a pivotal role in shaping organisational vision, strategic direction, and fostering a culture geared towards enhancing outcomes for patients and communities. Jackie remained dedicated to upholding NHS values while drawing upon insights and best practices from the commercial sector.
Recently retired from her directorial role at NECS, Jackie continues to serve as a Trustee for an education multi-academy trust, a charity aiding Refugee and Asylum Seekers, and a Dementia support organisation in her hometown of Darlington. In her leisure time, she remains active by participating in social group runs and enjoying leisurely walks with her dog.
Andrew brings a wealth of financial management expertise garnered over 30 years, complemented by his fellowship with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
With the majority of his career focused within the transport sector, Andrew’s last 12 years have been dedicated to Network Rail, the esteemed public sector entity responsible for overseeing the UK’s rail infrastructure. Currently serving as the Route Finance Director, Andrew has played a pivotal role in ensuring the financial health and operational efficiency of this vital national asset.
Andrew’s proficiency spans a broad spectrum of financial disciplines, including business planning and forecasting, financial compliance, governance, risk management, assurance, and business process enhancement. His extensive experience and acumen make him a valuable asset in driving forward strategic decision-making and fostering financial resilience.