Board members

Roles on the Board:

• Deputy Chair of NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
• Chair of NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly’s Finance, Performance and Quality Committee
• Champion for Emergency Planning, Preparedness and Resilience

Martin Sykes has been a Non-Executive Member and Senior Independent Director on NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly’s board since it launched on 1 July 2022, and has also chaired NHS Devon’s Finance and Performance Committee on an interim basis over the past year.

He has extensive NHS experience, previously as the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust director of finance and deputy chief executive.

Martin also held the Vice Chair and Non-Executive Director roles at NHS University Hospital Bristol and Weston Foundation Trust, where he chaired its finance and digital committee and sat on its audit committee.

Roles on the Board:

• Deputy Chair of NHS Devon
• Chair of NHS Devon’s Finance, Performance and Quality Committee
• Champion for Environmental Sustainability

Graham Clarke has been an Independent Non-Executive Member on NHS Devon’s Board since it was established in July 2022.

He has held several high-profile executive and non-executive positions including in his current role as a Non-Executive Member for the Department of Health and Social Care, and on its Audit and Risk Committee.

In previous roles, Graham has chaired the Audit and Risk Committees of NHS Health Research Authority and MIND (the mental health charity). He was also Chair of HUC, which provided 111 services to more than six million people.

Graham also has extensive experience of the pharmaceutical industry in a number of senior commercial roles including at GlaxoSmithKline, GE Healthcare and his own life sciences company.

Roles on the Board: 

• Chair of Audit and Risk Committee for NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly and NHS Devon
• Conflict of Interest Guardian
• Champion for Freedom to Speak Up

Lopa Patel MBE is a digital founder, Chair and Non-Executive Director with strengths in governance and risk oversight, particularly within the public sector.

A champion of entrepreneurship, innovation, AI and technology, she has founded two ventures in online media and a data-driven marketing consultancy.

She joined NHS Devon’s Board as an Independent Non-Executive Member in January 2025.

As the Chair of Diversity UK, Lopa has played a pivotal role in advocating for diversity, equality, and inclusion within healthcare and beyond, shaping policies and practices that support underrepresented communities.

Lopa has been recognised with many accolades including an MBE for services to the creative industries and an Honorary Doctorate conferred by the Open University.

Roles on the Board: 

• Chair of People and Customer Experience Committee
• Champion for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Tarn Lamb, who has been a member of NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Board since 1 July 2022, is an England committee member of the National Lottery Community Fund, and also the Chief Executive Officer of Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change.

Tarn has a depth of leadership, systems change and business development experience at both executive and in a variety of non-executive roles in the charity and social care sector.

She is a champion of equity, diversity and inclusion with the skills to bring diverse audiences together to achieve shared community outcomes.

Roles on the Board: 

• Chair of Integrated Neighbourhood Teams, Neighbourhoods, Population Health Management and Prevention Committee
• Champion for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

Dr Neil Walden has enjoyed a long career as a GP in Cornwall, working as a partner in Marazion Surgery until his retirement from practice in 2019.

Neil has been a member of NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Board since 1 July 2022.

He is a passionate advocate of working in partnership with people, and listening to their experiences of care, understanding what’s important to them to solve problems and create solutions.

This has included bringing together the NHS, providers, patients, and the voluntary sector to co-design an integrated community health and care service in west Penwith.

Neil has previously been a Clinical Leader of NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly’s west integrated care area, and a member of the west Cornwall integrated care board. He was a Locality Lead GP and Clinical Director of Penwith’s primary care network and is a member of the Penwith Integrated Care Forum.

Neil has an excellent appreciation of the complexity attached to partnership arrangements in primary care networks working together and will use this to ensure plans are patient-centred and informed by clinical evidence.

Robert is a former non-executive director at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, with a career rooted in management consulting and advisory work across public and private sectors globally.

He specialises in business transformation and organisational change, with healthcare systems experience spanning our NHS to the US, Middle East and Australia. He continues to work with organisations developing innovative, digitally enabled approaches to strategic change.

A graduate in Occupational Psychology, Robert previously served as Vice Chair of Trustees at Step One Charity, supporting people across Devon with mental health needs, learning disabilities and neurodiversity.

He is particularly proud of his time as Chair of Governors for a Berkshire school for children with complex learning needs, leading the funding, development and opening of a new specialist school. Having lived in Devon for 12 years, Robert and his family support their son, a young adult with special needs.

Susan is an experienced NHS executive nursing leader with over 35 years’ service across provider, commissioning and national organisations.

Throughout her career, which began as a registered adult and children’s nurse, Susan has maintained a strong focus on clinical leadership, quality improvement and patient safety.

Holding twin roles for NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly of chief nursing officer and chief operating officer, Susan has led the establishment of the clinical executive function and overseen major programmes to improve urgent and emergency care, patient flow, elective recovery and system quality governance.

She recently served as acting chief executive for NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, providing leadership during a period of significant organisational transition and system redesign.

Susan holds an MBA from the University of Exeter and is committed to strengthening integrated, neighbourhood-based models of care that improve outcomes and experience for people at any stage in their lives.

Libby originally joined NHS Devon in August 2024 as a Transformation Director before taking up the joint role in April 2026.

Her role has been to lead and drive our out-of-hospital delivery programme and the development of a medium-term plan to support our local communities as an alternative to hospital. 

Prior to her role with us, Libby was the Integrated Health Community Director for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Strategic Programme Director at Hywel Dda University Health Board in Wales.

Simon is a qualified accountant starting out originally in the private sector and over the last 30 years working with the NHS.

Following eight years as a substantive finance director, he has worked both as an interim director of finance across all NHS sectors and in roles including programme director and financial recovery director for a number of NHS organisations.

He has also worked on financial strategy and change programmes and more recently as an acute hospital director of finance, and as programme director for NHS England leading the national programme to reduce the cost of specialised high-cost devices.

Simon has a strong philosophy and belief in people being the key to organisational success and in the core value of the NHS in caring for our population.

He has 2 teenage children who keep him busy and loves to get out on a long bike ride including some across the UK and Europe.

Peter is an experienced and skilled chief medical officer and secondary care consultant who has operated at a senior level in the south west for almost two decades.

Having originally trained as a liver specialist (hepatologist), Peter worked at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust for more than 15 years.

He has since held deputy and chief medical officer roles for trusts in Bristol, Weston-super-Mare and, most recently, Salisbury, where he led an improvement programme across areas including strategy, operational and culture.

Originally from the North East, Chris spent the first part of my career as a medical officer with the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.

On leaving the service he has been a GP partner in Dorset and then New Zealand where he also held various leadership and governance roles with Northland District Health Board and The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.

For the past few years, he has enjoyed working as a GP in Cornwall.

Patrick joined NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly at its formation in 2022, moving from Cornwall Council where he was Head of People and Change.

Patrick has previously held senior roles in HR, organisational change and community development in local government, and has extensive experience of organisation and service design.

As well as corporate roles, he has worked in and with local communities on service innovation, resident participation and community health and wellbeing, and is passionate about the opportunities of good service design and great engagement to secure better outcomes for people, and more satisfying working lives.