Meet the Northern Healthcare Team

I originally joined Northern Healthcare as Business Development Director in 2019 and then moved into the role of Managing Director in 2021.

Northern Healthcare is a special organisation which is attributed to its people; employees and the individuals we support. I believe that things are never static, and we are constantly adapting and evolving to ultimately be the best we can be. After recently looking at our core values, as a team, we took the decision to relaunch them based on what is important to us today and what is important to the individuals accessing our support. The acronym for our values is PROUD and this word in itself describes my feelings towards NHC and the people that make it the organisation it is today.

Most of my career has been spent in independent healthcare and in people-focused organisations. I feel extremely fortunate to be in a role where I can actively lead the organisation through its continued development and growth to make sure that the excellent services we provide now can be made available for more people across the country.

• Responsible for leading the Human Resources & Recruitment functions within Northern Healthcare and ensuring HR strategy is aligned to the organisation’s mission, vision and goals.
• Anthea has a BA Hons Management Degree and Human Resource Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
• With over 15 years’ experience, Anthea has a strong background in human resources, recruitment and talent acquisition roles.
• Anthea has worked within a number of industries including mental health, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and is accustomed to working within highly regulated environments including CQC and TGA.

• Almost 20 years’ finance experience within the NHS and health care settings.
• Multifaceted finance professional specialising in financial accounting, planning and cash management.
• Daniel has also undertaken roles within finance systems, management accounts, governance and project accounting.
• Daniel has a BA Hons in Accountancy and is highly skilled in a wide range of finance and accounting packages.
• As a highly experienced manager Daniel has played a key part in the development and restructuring of a number of financial accounting departments including numerous process and system implementations.

• Dawn is a Registered Mental Health Nurse (BSc Hons) professional with experience in multiple NHS environments that include prison healthcare, substance misuse, dual diagnosis, mental health primary care, crisis resolution home treatment, mental health rehabilitation, and mental health inpatient flow.
• Dawn is a qualified CBT therapist and Nurse prescriber.
• An experienced clinician who has developed wider strategic and operational experience over an 18-year career across a range of sectors of the NHS.
• Dawn is also a specialist advisor to the CQC and has supported several inspections over the last 6 years.

Registered and Chartered Psychologist, Chartered Scientist and Registered Nurse FRCPsych(Hon) FMedSci MPhil PhD DSc (Hon) CPsychol CSci AFBPsS FRCN RN Cert CBT

• Kevin is an emeritus professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London.
• He was a consultant psychologist at the Priory Hospital North London; retiring in December 2018.
• He is currently a professorial fellow at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre; University of New South Wales in Sydney.
• He has been responsible for a wide range of research, policy and practice development in mental health care. He also works as an Expert Witness; he has provided reports on more than 200 suicides; 20 homicides and hundreds of reports on people who have suffered the consequences of traumatic events.

I joined Northern Healthcare in 2018 and can whole heartedly say that working for Northern Healthcare has been immensely rewarding. I have been continually challenged and there has never been a dull moment. I have been supported in my career every step of the way and I am now proud to hold the position of Finance Manager.

Northern Healthcare is a fantastic organisation, one that provides an excellent service to our residents. I eagerly await the company newsletter each month, so I can read about all the exciting activities that have been happening across our services. It’s great to see our residents reaching their goals and aspirations.

Northern Healthcare is also committed to celebrating the success of its employees, and actively recognising achievements, by holding events such as the Northern Healthcare Awards. I have been privileged to be part of the judging process this year and have loved reading the amazing nominations that our staff have received.

I am PROUD to be part of the Northern Healthcare team!

I have worked for NHC for 4 years within the Business Development Team, I am responsible for generating referrals into the business by meeting with local commissioning teams, community mental health and learning disability teams, hospital discharge coordinators and any other person who could help generate referral activity.

I also meet with commissioning teams within new areas to look at demand and whether NHC should look at developing new sites within those areas.

I love working within the mental health sector, I’ve struggled with my own mental health in the past and only over the last 5 years have I been able to talk more openly about my anxiety and understand how to manage it. I love being able to be part of our residents’ journeys and often as the first person to be involved from the referral it’s such a rewarding feeling knowing we are making a difference in the lives of our residents.

I joined Northern Healthcare in 2019 as the Marketing Manager within the Business Development team. I have over 10 years’ experience within various industries but found my passion for the healthcare sector 5 years ago.

I believe that there is something so special about marketing in adult health and social care; being able to share our residents’ recovery journeys with the world, celebrate the amazing team we have here at Northern Healthcare and advocate for mental health is truly an honour.

It is a really exciting time at Northern Healthcare as we continue to grow as a business and help more people access the services they need.

I am so proud to be part of a company that is dedicated to embedding our values, changing people’s lives and promoting a positive culture which allows our team to thrive both personally and professionally.

My name is Jo Willis and I am a Registered Mental Health Nurse. I began my career in mental health as a Health Care Assistant and have worked in Acute, PICU and Rehabilitation services within both Adult and Children Sectors.

I spent 17 years working in hospital healthcare settings before moving into the community and joining NHC at the start of 2022. I have experience managing complex secure units and commissioning of new services. I have also acted as a Regulatory Inspector of hospitals and specialist CAMHS Inpatient advisor. I am a school governor of a local primary school which provides specialist support for children with complex learning difficulties.

I am passionate about mental health awareness, reducing the stigmas associated with mental illness and ensuring the most vulnerable people in our society live fulfilled and enriched lives in safe and caring environments.

I’ve always had an interest in HR and decided to take the plunge and change my career direction in 2008 when I enrolled at night school to study for my Certificate in Personnel Practice at Bury College. I then went on to do the CIPD Leadership & Management degree and finished with my MSc in Human Resource Management, both from the University of Salford. Working full-time whilst studying allowed me to not only gain the theory-based knowledge but also the valuable hands-on experience needed to progress in HR. I eventually moved into a HR role within the Mental Health industry and have never looked back.

I started working for NHC in April 2019 and have loved every minute of it. There are always days which are more challenging than others but knowing that what we are doing as a team is making a difference to people’s lives makes it all worthwhile. In my role, I get the best of both worlds, I get to travel around the sites meeting staff and residents which is great and I also get to spend the rest of my time working as part of the Head Office team in Eccles.

It’s exciting to be part of the NHC team and to be a part of it as we grow and develop. I am especially pleased with the way NHC embraces development and promotion from within. We are PROUD to have Service Managers who started out as Support Workers with NHC and worked their way up.