THE THALIDOMIDE TRUST - Key Persons
Adrian Newland is Professor of Haematology at Queen Mary University of London and Honorary Consultant at Barts Health NHS Trust.
He is ex-Chair of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Diagnostic Assessment Programme and co-chairs the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on In-Vitro Diagnostics (SAGE-IVD) and is a member of the peer review group for the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer. Adrian is Specialist Clinical Advisor in Pathology for NHS Improvement. He was President of the Royal College of Pathologists from 2005-2008 and the International Society of Haematology (ISH) from 2014-2016.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Officer
- Member of the Trust Management & Support Team
Bex Chamberlain Administrative Officer (Maternity Cover) Working alongside Sarah, I am one of the first points of contact at the Trust. As a member of the admin team my role involves general admin, sending beneficiary communications, and helping ensure the smooth running of the office.
Job Titles:
- Senior Administrative Officer I Am on Maternity Leave until July 2024.
Cheryl Pinkney H&W Manager I am part of the Management Team and support Katy in providing leadership to the H&W Team. I oversee key health and wellbeing data and services to understand and respond to the changing needs of beneficiaries. I also administer new applications to the Trust.
Annabelle Blackham Beneficiary Engagement & Volunteer Coordinator I work with Cheryl and Michelle as a first point of contact for beneficiaries. I am responsible for Volunteer recruitment, development and identifying beneficiaries requirements that can be met by our volunteers.
Job Titles:
- Legal Trustee
- Meet New Trustee
From 1978, Caroline practised as a barrister from Chambers in Manchester. She was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1993, specialising in complex clinical negligence, catastrophic brain injury and industrial disease cases, mainly representing claimants. Between 2001 and 2005, she was Leading Counsel to the Shipman Inquiry.
In 2005, she was appointed a Judge of the High Court, Queen's Bench Division. She tried primarily civil cases and, from 2006 until 2015, she was the Judge in charge of the British Coal Respiratory Disease Litigation, a group action involving over half a million claims. Between 2012 and 2014, she was Judicial College Director of Civil Training, with responsibility for the training in civil work of Judges at all levels in England and Wales.
She retired from the Bench in 2015 and, from January 2017 until December 2022, headed the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, the body which organises and conducts all disciplinary hearings involving doctors whose fitness to practice the General Medical Council considers may be impaired.
Meet new Trustee, Dame Caroline, talking about her working life and why she joined us […]Read More
Until 30th April 2015, David was National Head of the Product Liability Team at Irwin Mitchell and had specialised in medical negligence and product liability work since the mid 1980s.
His specific areas of medical negligence expertise are claims arising from birth and paediatric injury, anaesthetic and neurosurgical accidents, and he has experience of most types of claims arising from failures to diagnose and treat.
In the 1990s he dealt with many product liability claims arising from the use of contaminated growth hormone which caused Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and represented the families of CJD victims at the BSE inquiry. He has spent a good part of the last decade running a group action against Sanofi on behalf of the injured children of epileptic women who took sodium valproate during pregnancy.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Member of the Senior Management Team
Deborah Jack Executive Director I have overall responsibility for ensuring the Trust is operating effectively and legally, using resources wisely and responding in the best possible way to the changing needs of beneficiaries. I also act as the central contact point for our funders - Diageo and the four UK Health & Social Care Departments.
Trust medical adviser, Susan Brennan, advises on what can be done to ease muscle spasms […]Read More
Claire Blythe H&W Coordinator (Independence & Care) I am a registered Social Worker with a background in Adult Social Care. My role is to support beneficiaries to access the services they are entitled to, whilst promoting autonomy and independence. I complete HNAs and respond to day to day queries that arise as beneficiaries contact the trust.
Job Titles:
- Finance Coordinator ( Beneficiary Support ) I Provide Support to Beneficiaries With Regards to a Range of Financial Matters Including
Jeff Prevost Finance Coordinator (Beneficiary Support) I provide support to beneficiaries with regards to a range of financial matters including: payment requests; developing personalised budget plans, applications for Advances; providing guidance on mortgage lending, and information on Wills, trusts and Power of Attorney.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director of Health & Wellbeing
Katy Sagoe Director of Health & Wellbeing I have responsibility for ensuring that we understand and respond to the health and wellbeing needs of beneficiaries and manage the fantastic team of committed H&W staff. As part of the senior management team I also contribute to the strategic direction of the Trust.
Keith Everest Senior Finance Officer I maintain the Trust's financial records, produce financial and management reporting, and liaise with the Trust's auditors to make sure our accounts are accurate. I manage the Finance Assistant in their role of making payments to suppliers, beneficiaries, and volunteers.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Trust Management & Support Team
- Office Manager
Lynsey Clarke Office Manager/Executive Assistant to the Executive Director I am responsible for HR for the Trust, Managing the Office (and budgets), CRM IT System, Governance and am EA to Deborah. I am part of the Management Team and provide leadership and manage the Admin Officers.
Mark Benstead BA, MBA Finance Trustee Senior fixed income fund manager at Legal and General Investment Management. Previous experience at AXA Investment Managers, Royal Bank of Canada and Hambros Bank. Experienced across all classes of fixed income debt with a wide variety of clients. Committees: Finance Co-Chair of Beneficiary Insights Panel Trustee since May 2015
Adrian Casey qualified from Westminster Medical School (Imperial College) in 1985. His neurosurgery training was in Atkinson Morleys Hospital and the National Hospital in Queen Square, London, where he did his research with Alan Crockard on the rheumatoid cervical spine.
His first consultant appointment was to Charing Cross Neurosurgery Unit, London, in 1997. He was subsequently appointed as the first spinal neurosurgeon in the UK to his current post at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square (UCLH). This was a specially created post to bring together the two disciplines of spine surgery (Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery).
He is involved with most aspects of complex spine surgery. His job is divided between his two NHS posts at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.
He was involved in setting up spinal training for the European Association of Neurological Surgeons. He is President of British Association of Spine Surgeons.
Job Titles:
- Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Alistair Hunter is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, specialising in hand, wrist and elbow surgery. He studied at Cambridge University and University College London. He trained in Trauma and Orthopaedics in Manchester and London and was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in 2013.
He has completed Fellowships in hand, wrist and upper limb surgery at the Hand Unit, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and the Upper Limb Unit, Wrightington Hospital. He has also undertaken a Traveling Fellowship to the Institut Kaplan, Barcelona (Ethicon Foundation Award). He has developed advanced skills in the management of complex hand and upper limb injuries and common and complex conditions of the hand, wrist and elbow. More recently, he travelled on the European Wrist Arthroscopy Society Tour to Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg and Reims to further enhance his skills in minimally invasive techniques in hand and wrist surgery.
Alistair was awarded the Postgraduate Diploma in Hand Surgery by the British Society for Surgery of the Hand in 2015. He has been awarded 'Surgeon of the Year' at University College Hospital for 2016, nominated by fellow staff members. He publishes scientific papers on hand and upper limb surgery, has contributed to several books and presents at conferences nationally and internationally. He is an invited reviewer for the Bone and Joint Journal and a number of other international scientific journals. Alistair is a member of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH) and the European Wrist Arthroscopy Society (EWAS).
He is the Royal College Surgical Tutor for UCLH, with responsibility for trainee surgeons across the Trust. He teaches medical students at UCL, is invited Faculty on national courses and holds a Masters Degree in Medical Education. He is Course Director of the Preparation for FRCS (Tr&Orth) Course, working with UCLPartners Academic Health Science Partnership, and is Convenor of the Essential Hand Surgery Cadaveric Workshop and the Practical Preparation for Orthopaedic ST3 Interviews Course.
Alistair is married with two daughters. He enjoys sports, particularly tennis and participating in triathlons. He enjoys film, holidays and, most of all, spending time with his young family.
Job Titles:
- Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Children 's Orthopaedics
Mr Sorene obtained his medical degree from University College London and Middlesex School of Medicine MBBS in 1995 and completed his Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery training in 2004. He was awarded the AO scholarship in 2002 and the Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) scholarship for excellence in 2004.
He undertook Fellowships in hand, wrist and upper limb surgery training at the Pulvertaft Hand Centre Derby in 2004-2005 and Centre for Hand and Upper Limb Surgery Wrightington Hospital, Lancashire in 2006. He was awarded the European Diploma in Hand Surgery best candidate 2005 and the Churchill Livingstone Medal. He was the Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery 2006. His current NHS post is Consultant Orthopaedic, Hand & Upper Limb surgeon University College London Hospital. His private office is based at the Hospital of St John & St Elizabeth.
He is an invited faculty member at Wrightington and Derby hand and wrist surgery courses and wrist arthroscopy courses at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He is an invited speaker at the GP forum of the Royal Society of Medicine and Royal College of Physicians GP courses and an invited speaker on the subject of bomb blast trauma to Department of emergency Medicine and Pre-hospital care of the London Hospital, Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) and other NHS trusts.
Mr Sorene is an editorial board member of the Journal of Children's Orthopaedics, the official journal of the European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society (EPOS).
James Donaldson qualified from University College London Medical School in 2002. He trained on the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital rotation and achieved his completion of training in 2013. Before taking up a consultant post at the RNOH he undertook two subspecialist fellowships: a one year international fellowship in Toronto, Canada and a six month fellowship on the Joint Reconstruction Unit at Stanmore. He also has prior consultant experience working at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London.
His practice is divided between hip and knee surgeries including primary and complex primary replacements, revision surgeries for failure or infection, as well as arthroscopic and soft tissue knee surgery and osteotomies. In addition he has an on-going academic and clinical interest in cartilage regeneration.
He has been awarded ten academic prizes throughout his career and has written numerous textbook chapters and articles in peer reviewed journals. He has presented at both national and international meetings and remains a keen teacher. He has co-authored a website for junior orthopaedic trainees and medical students and is an invited faculty member on a number of national courses on both hip and knee surgery.
Job Titles:
- Council Member of the British Elbow
Mr. Bale is a Council Member of the British Elbow and Shoulder Society and founder member of the North West Upper Limb Group.
Specialities: Mr. Bale has a specialist interest in arthroscopic surgery and shoulder joint replacement. He is specialist in treating shoulder instability, rotator cuff tears, frozen shoulder, arthritis, shoulder fractures and dislocations.
Rosemary Varley is Professor in the Faculty of Brain Sciences/Division of Psychology & Language Sciences at University College London. She undertakes research into cognitive impairments following brain injury, particularly in stroke and dementia. She has published research articles in major international journals such as Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, New York Academy of Sciences and Stroke. Her research is funded by government research councils and charities such as the Alzheimer's Society and the Stroke Association.
Job Titles:
- Head of Health
- Health & Wellbeing Trustee
Ruthe is the Head of Health and Care Influencing at the Charity Age UK. Her work includes: research and policy development; influencing local and national policy makers; working with professionals and service providers to improve people's outcomes from and experience of care; and supporting people to maintain and improve their own health and wellbeing. She has extensive expertise in the impact of ageing and older people's health.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Officer
- Member of the Trust Management & Support Team
Sarah Holyoak Administrative Officer With Bex, I am one of the first points of contact on the phones and manage the beneficiaries AA car breakdown scheme. I work to support the Trust with all Admin tasks including sending communications to our beneficiaries and the day to day running of the office.
Shan is a pensions actuary with BT, working to improve member and shareholder outcomes in relation to the BT Pension Scheme, one of the UK's largest corporate defined benefit pension schemes. He specialises in pensions strategy, actuarial & investment risk, and in implementing effective governance & risk frameworks.
Job Titles:
- Finance Director
- Member of the Senior Management Team
Suzanne Lluch Finance Director I am responsible for the financial planning and financial management of the Trust. I oversee the Grant payments allocated and distributed to the Trust's beneficiaries and ensure that financial support is available for them. I also monitor the performance of the Trust's investment portfolio.
Wendy Cann Finance Assistant I work in the finance team and assist with maintaining the Trust's financial records. My main focus is making grant payments to beneficiaries and expenses to suppliers, volunteers and staff.