Meet your Governors

Andrew Postlethwaite, Teignmouth

Andrew is a retired Managing Director of a local business of over 18 years standing and was a former chairman of the Teignbridge branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, culminating election as regional chairman for Devon.

He continues to work in the field of Expert Witness in Forensic Reconstructions and Virtual Reality, registered with the National Crime Agency and as a member of The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. He is a retired Governor of South Devon University Technical College, Newton Abbot and a Chartered member of the Chartered Management Institute.

He is currently involved in an ongoing drug trial with the Trust and is passionate about ensuring the NHS delivers on its promises.

Val Browning, Strete

Val has lived in Devon for over 28 years and has been an active member of her local Patient Participation Group (PPG) at her local health centre which she has thoroughly enjoyed. She is keen to take her interest in health and safety issues to a higher level and be of more use to a wider group by being a Trust Governor.

Previously Val was a Purchasing Officer for a large water authority involved regular contact with external companies and authority staff. Prior to that she spent several working years in local government dealing with members of the public.

Dave Cawley, Dartmouth

Dave has worked in the IT field all his adult life and occasionally lectured to NASA scientists in the USA. The National Health Service is very important to Dave and he feels pleased to be representing the South Hams area on the Council of Governors. He has lived in Dartmouth for a long time and witnessed a number of significant changes to health and care services in the area, including the building of the new Health and Wellbeing Centre in Dartmouth.

Dave grew up in Devon and returned here in his 40s. He is a clear thinker, and understands how organisations work. As a Town Councillor, he served as the lead for the £1M Dartmouth Market Regeneration and will use his skills as a Governor to promote improvements in healthcare services delivery not only for the people of South Hams but also the wider Torbay and South Devon area.

Eileen Engelmann, Newton Abbot

Eileen is a retired qualified nurse with many years in nursing, including management of her own local care home for elderly people. Since 2004 she has worked for South Devon College as a trainer, assessor and moderator for Health & Social Care qualifications. She has a special interest in promoting services for dementia conditions and volunteers at a Memory Cafe in Torquay.

Annie Hall, Newton Abbot

Annie has been a Governor since 2016. Annie has a teaching background she has worked in care work for vulnerable adults for Social Services, Cub leadership and retail management. Annie is on the ‘Working with Us’ panel and has a special interest in the Pituitary Tumour Society at the hospital. She also collaborates with Devon and Cornwall Police to help promote the awareness of county lines with schools, the hospital and wider community, and to create a link between the Mental Health Police Team and the Voluntary Care Sector.

James Hartley, Newton Abbot

James has lived in the Teignbridge area since 2001, and has worked in the community as a Rugby and Cricket Coach and has been a Director of Newton Abbot Rugby Football Club. He was also on the Committee that helps run Abbotskerswell Cricket Club.

He has been a teacher of Business Studies and Computer Science since 2004 and is now working at Stover School as Head of Business Studies where he also helps run the Combined Cadet Force and was previously a Trustee of Young Art Devon.

He is particularly interested in supporting the education and communication strategies at the Trust.

John Smith, Kingsteignton

John and his family have lived in the locality since 1986. He has a background in publishing and book-selling. Before retiring he was a founder director of what is now the leading firm of Independent Financial Advisers in the South West. He now advises private clients in setting up trusts to protect their property.

Loveday Densham, Torquay

Loveday has been a medical secretary in the NHS for the past thirty-eight years, and has previously been a staff governor at RD&E Hospital. Loveday currently works for five physicians in the Renal Unit at the Royal Devon & Exeter in a team which is linked with Torbay. She brings with her a lifetime’s experience of dealing with the difficulties in NHS administration and has experienced first hand how these problems directly affect patients and clinical staff. Her aim is to support a drive for integrated IT services for the whole of the South West region and improved parking/park and ride facilities for patients and staff.

John Kiddey, Torquay

John’s career was in television journalism and he spent many years working for the regional ITV companies Westcountry Television and TSW. As Editor of Special investigations, John won two Royal Television Society awards for his work. Having spent half his life living and working in Devon, John has gained a depth of knowledge of the issues facing people here and hopes to use that knowledge in his new role of governor. Since retiring from television, John has been a magistrate on the South Devon Bench. He is married to royal historian Rachel Trethewey and he has four children.

Alison Ramon, Torquay

Alison has been employed in the NHS and social care services almost all her working life. She was a Human Resources Officer at Torbay Hospital, and has also managed a project across Devon that involved service users and carers in the design and delivery of learning and development programmes for health and social care staff.

She was also a contract manager for the Citizens Advice Bureau in the Midlands where she was responsible for helping the clients of local community mental health services to access benefits.

More recently she has been an assessor for Devon Partnership Trust which involves monitoring the conditions and environment of mental health wards including Haytor and Beech at Torbay.

After retiring Alison became the primary carer for her parents and she has a keen interest in the health and welfare of older people.

Andrew Stilliard, Torquay

Andrew is a recently retired procurement manager having worked across the South West NHS for over 40 years. Achieving value for money remains his goal. He has held voluntary roles before as a hospital visitor and chaplaincy assistant and is an advocate for blood donation. Locally he is very involved within various Christian ministries which help fulfil his active lifestyle, which he needs to maintain as a Trust cardiac patient. He is passionate about listening to patient’s needs and ensuring they get heard.

Lee Thomas, Torquay

Lee’s career has been diverse and exciting, having worked on various UK and international tours within the entertainment industry where he gained extensive experience and knowledge.

Lee’s commitment to the community is evident through his involvement in various initiatives and organisations, including Torbay Hospital Radio. As the Chairman of Torbay Hospital Radio, he has worked tirelessly to ensure that the hospital radio station continues to provide comfort and entertainment to patients and staff alike.

Vincent Williams, Torquay

Residing in Torquay since 1999, Vince is a seasoned project manager with a wealth of experience. Throughout his career, he has successfully led numerous high-value, high-impact projects in both the private and public sectors, most recently several projects for the South West Ambulance Service and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trusts. Presently, Vince is employed by Kettering General Hospital NHS Trust, leading several digital implementation projects for their Electronic Patient Records Programme.

Vince holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in Project Management. He is a member of the Chartered Association for Project Management and is actively pursuing qualification as a Chartered Project Professional, further solidifying his standing in the field. He is particularly interested in supporting the Trust’s digital strategies to deliver more effective patient care.

Beyond his professional endeavours, Vince is a devoted music lover, with an established background in music and television production. His eclectic interests extend to Kendo, photography, woodworking and collecting vintage clocks.

NHS Devon Integrated Care Board: Karen Barry

Karen works for NHS Devon Integrated Care Board as the Locality Director covering South and West Devon. She has always lived in Torbay and has worked in various NHS management and leadership roles in Devon since 1990. Karen brings experience of working across primary care, commissioning, operational delivery, strategy development and implementation and is passionate about the health of the population in Devon. She has a special interest in developing staff and teams to provide the best service to patients and loves spending time with her two daughters and five grandchildren and is a keen Torquay United Supporter!

University of Exeter, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences: Jo Bowtell

Jo completed her PhD examining the effects of nutrition and exercise on protein turnover at Dundee University in 1996. Since then, she has spent over 25 years teaching and conducting research at Loughborough University, London South Bank University and since 2011 at University of Exeter, where she is Professor of Exercise Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism. Jo’s research focus is on exercise and nutrient-induced changes in human physiology and metabolism, and their effects on exercise performance and recovery, as well as their potential to support human health. Her BioActivEx research group are currently investigating the effects of a range of natural bioactive compounds such as polyphenols on athlete performance and healthy aging and the underpinning molecular mechanisms.

Jo served as Head of the Sport and Health Sciences Department for 5 years during which they were ranked first for research quality in the Research Excellence Framework assessment. She is now Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor for the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences.

Devon Partnership Trust: Clare McAdam

Clare is the Deputy Director of Nursing at Devon Partnership Trust (since 2020). This role involves working on all aspects in quality of patient care and patient safety, leading organisational change on specific projects and working with partner Trusts collaboratively. She is also the Perinatal Clinical Director for the Southwest Provider Collaborative.

She has a special interest in perinatal mental health. Previously, Clare led operationally on the development of a community perinatal service across Devon, the opening of a new 8 bedded Mother and Baby Unit in Devon for women living in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.

In other previous roles Clare has been a member of the perinatal mental health NHSE Clinical Reference Group. She was also the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Clinical Lead for the NHS Southwest Clinical Network in 2019/20. Working alongside women with lived experience has been a much valued element to all her perinatal involvement.

Torbay Carers Strategy Steering Group: Hilary Milner

Hilary moved to Torbay in 1990 as a result of changing her career from Local Government Administration to owning and running her own catering business for twelve years. Hilary then returned to administrative duties at Totnes Community Hospital in the Over 65’s Mental Health Unit, followed by working as Registrar in a local language school. Hilary also fostered teenage boys for five years from 2012.

Upon retiring in 2017 Hilary’s widowed mother was diagnosed with Alzhiemer’s disease, so she moved in with Hilary so that she could be her full-time carer. Her mother moved into a permanent residential home in 2020, and Hilary has now become a full-time carer for her husband.

Hilary has belonged to the Chadwell Carers Group based in Paignton since her father’s diagnosis of Alzhiemer’s disease in 2008 and is a member of the Torbay Carers Register Management Group and also the Torbay Carers Strategy Steering Group.

In her spare time, Hilary loves to create abstract art, walk the dogs, helps out at her local Ageing Well group; and keeping fit as part of her local power-hoop group.

Teignbridge Council: John Nutley

John moved to Devon 37 years ago and is a retired Company Director of a joinery firm in Newton Abbot. John was appointed in June 2023 as the representative for Teignbridge District Council to serve on the Council of Governors.

John is a District Councillor for the Ashburton and Buckfastleigh Ward first being elected in 2007, where he is the Executive Member for open spaces, leisure, sport, resorts and tourism. He has been a Dartmoor National Park Authority Member for 11 years.

John is a member of the Ashburton Town Council and has been Chairman and Mayor for Ashburton twice, and was the 1199th/1200th Portreeve of Ashburton for the Courts Leet and Baron Juries. He is also Chair of the Ashburton and Buckfastleigh League of Friends.

He has been a committee member on the Ashburton Emergency Climate Change Group (ACE) and considers the environment and saving our planet to be vitally important for future generations.

Plymouth University Peninsula School of Medicine and Dentistry: Louise Winfield

Louise qualified as a nurse in 1989 and has worked across the NHS and private sector within the critical care environment.

She changed the focus of her career, moving into education initially at Wolverhampton University and then after moving to the South West, she joined the University of Plymouth. She has undertaken Associate Head of Internationalisation & Innovation, Deputy and Head of School roles. Louise now works part time as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Health, Plymouth University.

South Hams District Council and for Dartmouth and East Dart: Ged Yardy

Ged is an elected representative for South Hams District Council and for Dartmouth and East Dart. As Member of Dartmouth Town Council Ged has led on health and wellbeing issues locally.

Ged has previously worked as an innovation and sustainability manager at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and worked for more than 20 years in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

Sal Aziz – Children and Family Heath Devon

Sal began his NHS career in 2020 with Devon Partnership NHS Trust, and in 2022 he joined Children & Family Health Devon as a Personal Assistant. He has also held a number of voluntary roles in the NHS including extreme weather driving and as a member of the CAMHS Charitable Funds Committee.

Sal has a particular interest in driving collaboration between partner organisations and ensuring that all staff and service users across the South West of England have a voice at the Board level. In his spare time he likes travelling and competing in motorsport events, and he regularly travels across the UK as a volunteer motorsport marshal.

Matthew Giles – Staff Governor for Planned care and surgery

Matthew qualified as a Diagnostic Radiographer from Sheffield Hallam University in 2013 and worked at The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust for six years. He has worked at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust since June 2019, firstly as a Plain Film Radiographer and now as a Specialist Interventional Radiographer. He has a special interest in service and quality improvement as well as championing the role of Allied Health Professionals across the ICO. Outside of work he is a keen runner, football referee and father.

Yvonne Paulucy – Staff Governor for Professional support services staff

Yvonne is a registered nurse by background and has worked in private healthcare organisations and NHS hospitals in the North East of England as well in the United Arab Emirates.

Her nursing experience is mainly within critical care and the operating department, specifically general surgery and cardiothoracic specialties. On moving to the United Arab Emirates she developed an interest in patient safety and quality improvement. She assisted and led in many quality improvement projects which contributed to the hospital acquiring gold standard awards by the Joint Commission International Accreditation organisation after each of the triennial accreditation surveys.

Since returning to the UK, Yvonne has made Torbay her home and has continued her passion for patient safety by joining the Patient Safety team in 2021. Outside of work, Yvonne enjoys travelling, reading, and spending time with family.

Dr Jonathan Shribman – Staff Governor for Medicine and urgent care

Jonathan is employed by the Trust as a Long Covid GP Specialist assessing and managing patients with Long Covid as part of the Trust’s Long Covid multi-disciplinary team.

He was previously the senior partner in a high performing general practice in the East Midlands and was also a GP with Special Interest in Cardiology. He was latterly an elected Public Governor for TSDFT in South Hams for 3 years until 2023. He is the local RNLI Medical Advisor in Dartmouth.

Radia Woodbridge – Staff Governor for Families and communities

Radia joined the NHS Reablement Service in 2018 as a support worker in adult care covering the Torbay area. She champions good practice protocols where people are empowered and engaged in choice and control over the support they receive. Radia also works with Citizens Advice Torbay as an adviser and has volunteered as a treasurer for her local primary school. She grows vegetables on an allotment to support food banks and help families to cook healthily. In the past she has worked with families/young children and had various managerial roles in electronics and petroleum industries. A member of Paignton Canoe Club and enjoys Zumba/yoga classes. Other pastimes include reading, travelling, studying and learning new languages. Radia become a staff Governor in 2021.