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Dr Buki Adeyemo, chief executive of North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust
Dr Adeyemo became interim chief executive of North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust in 2021, after nine years as medical director. An old age and adult psychiatrist, she is also on the board of the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network. Having originally qualified and practised in Nigeria, she drew on her own experiences to help develop a welcome pack for international medical graduates on behalf of the Workforce Race Equality Standards strategic group.
Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, professor emeritus, University of West London
There can be few greater honours than being invited to play a role in the coronation of the new monarch. This year Professor Dame Anionwu carried the gold Sovereign Orb in the ceremony for the coronation of King Charles. Her long career has included helping to set up the UK’s first sickle cell centre; being appointed a professor of nursing at the University of West London, where she created the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice; and becoming a life patron of the Mary Seacole Trust.
Dr Minal Bakhai, national director of primary care transformation, NHS England
Dr Bakhai has been in her current NHS England job for two years but prior to that led digital first primary care. She continues to practise as a GP in north west London and is also an expert adviser on medical technology to the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). She has said digital needs to be an enabler to help system redesign and better match urgency and need to clinical capacity. Dr Bakhai was made an MBE earlier this year in recognition of her services to general practice.
Professor JS Bamrah, past chair of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin
Professor Bamrah is a former BMA and Royal College of Psychiatrists council member who has ensured BAPIO has remained a key source of support to doctors from the Indian subcontinent. He is a consultant psychiatrist at Greater Manchester Mental Health Foundation Trust and holds a number of honorary positions in India, as well as being a trustee of two Manchester-based charities. He was awarded a CBE in 2018.
Professor Ivan Browne, professor of public health and social determinants of health, De Montfort University
At the beginning of September Professor Browne stepped down as director of public health at Leicester City Council – a role he’d held throughout the enormously challenging period during which the city experienced the country’s longest and most severe covid lockdown. He has long been passionate about developing supportive and equitable learning environments and, in deciding on his next role, he explained that “what I wanted more than anything was to help use my experience to educate young people”. He has already served as a pro-chancellor of De Montfort.
Professor Zubair Hanslot, provost, University of Bolton
Professor Hanslot has been instrumental in the extension of healthcare education at the University of Bolton, expanding its nursing provision and securing funding for the Bolton College of Medical Sciences. A postgraduate medical institute will offer courses from 2024, with the intention of an undergraduate medical school operating from 2025. A professor of engineering mathematics, Professor Hanslot has been the university’s provost for 12 years.
Dr Adrian Hayter, national clinical director for older people and integrated person centred care
A GP partner for more than 25 years, Dr Hayter has also been a part-time national clinical director for more than four. He is also a non-executive director at Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust and was a board member of NHS Clinical Commissioners. He is especially passionate about the care of older people and the need for collaboration rather than silo work.
Louie Horne, Workforce Race Equality Standards clinical research fellow, NHS England
Louie Horne has worked as a Workforce Race Equality Standards clinical research fellow at NHS England for nearly two years, a role she combines with that of senior matron and deputy associate director of nursing at East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust. She was the first Filipino nurse to join the NHS England team and has focused on issues affecting internationally educated staff. She says that race and the impact on those discriminated against need to be talked about openly. She was awarded a British Empire Medal this year.
Ifti Majid, chief executive, Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust
Mr Majid had spent five successful years as chief executive of Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust before moving across to his current organisation in 2022. A mental health nurse by background, he is chair of the NHS Confederation’s mental health and learning disabilities network and co-chair of its BME leadership network. He has said healthcare leaders must be actively anti-racist, apply evidence-based approaches, and hold themselves to account for delivery.
Dr Margaret Ikpoh, vice chair, Royal College of General Practitioners
Dr Margaret Ikpoh is currently the vice chair for professional development and standards at the Royal College of General Practitioners as well as a GP partner at a practice near Hull. From 2018 to 2021, she was associate director of primary care education at Hull York Medical School. Named Fellow of the Year in the 2021 RCGP Inspire Awards, she has spoken about the systemic racism which GPs can encounter and the need to address it through initiatives such as the RCGP’s “listening exercises”.
Dr Ramesh Mehta, president, British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin
Along with immediate past chair Dr JS Bamrah, Dr Mehta has come to personify BAPIO to many people – not least during the early waves of the pandemic when, as well as highlighting the impact on ethnic minorities in the UK, its members were keen to help colleagues working in the Indian health system. He founded BAPIO more than 25 years ago and worked for many years as a paediatrician in the east of England. Dr Mehta chairs the board of Medical Defence Shield, an organisation set up by BAPIO which represents many international medical graduates including in employment matters. He was made a CBE earlier this year, having previously been awarded an OBE.
Benash Nazmeen, director, Association of South Asian Midwives
Ms Nazmeen co-founded the Association of South Asian Midwives in 2020. It seeks to support marginalised midwives and raise awareness of the barriers faced by some communities, including through cultural competency and safety workshops. An assistant professor in midwifery at the University of Bradford, Ms Nazmeen is also a specialist adviser to the Care Quality Commission and co-chaired an inquiry into racial injustice in maternity services. Set up by the charity Birthrights, the inquiry reported last year.
Dr Ify Okocha, chief executive, Oxleas Foundation Trust
Dr Okocha is a renowned psychiatrist who turned to trust management, serving as medical director and deputy chief executive at Oxleas Foundation Trust before taking over as chief executive in late 2021. He was the first ever recipient of the Medical Leader of the Year award from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and is on the College’s roll of honour. His areas of expertise include anxiety, mood disorders, addiction and psychotic disorders but he has also been active in developing medical appraisal, including sitting on a General Medical Council reference group.
Cherish Otoo, emergency department nurse, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust
Ms Otoo may have only been a registered nurse for two years but she has already garnered a string of accolades, including the Mary Seacole Award for outstanding contribution to diversity and inclusion. She is an ambassador for the charity One Woman at a Time, which supports woman and girls at risk of female genital mutilation, domestic abuse and forced marriage. Ms Otoo started her NHS career providing support to the waiting list team at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay FT before becoming one of the first nurse apprentices.
Professor Meghana Pandit, chief executive, Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust
Professor Pandit was appointed as permanent chief executive of Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust this year, after eight months as the interim and four years as medical director. She became the trust’s first female chief executive, but also the first person of a Black or minority ethnic background to be appointed as chief executive of any Shelford Group trust. A senior founding fellow of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management, she is also a professor of practice in the University of Warwick’s Institute of Digital Health.
Jennifer Pearson, head of nursing, The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital Foundation Trust
Ms Pearson was named BAME nurse of the year in the National Diversity Awards last year and won a 2021 RCN Making a Difference award for her work to increase covid vaccine uptake in minority groups. She took up her current post in February 2023, having previously been lead nurse for shared governance at University Hospitals Birmingham FT. She is the Midlands lead for the chief nursing officer’s BAME advisory group, in which capacity she co-designed the Developing Aspirant Leaders programme. The programme supports ethnic minority nurses and midwives who aspire to a senior leadership role and was shortlisted for the NHS Race Equality Award at the 2022 HSJ Awards.
Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health, University of Edinburgh
Professor Sridhar came to national attention during the early waves of the pandemic when her views were decidedly at odds with the government’s on many points. She initially advocated a zero covid approach but, as it became obvious that was unviable as covid swept through the country, she argued for the likes of better ventilation and the use of medical-grade masks as a key means of reducing rates. She continues to write and lecture on crucial public health issues. Brought up in the US, Professor Sridhar got her first degree at 18 before becoming a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford.
Selina Ullah, chair, Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust
Ms Ullah has been the chair at Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust since 2021, one of the first Muslim female NHS trust chairs in the country. She had previously served as a non-executive director and vice chair at Bradford Teaching Hospitals FT for six years. A lay member of the General Pharmaceutical Council, she has also been a senior adviser to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and is a director and previous chair of the Muslim Women’s Council. At Derbyshire Healthcare FT she has supported the development of a more diverse board and strives for a more inclusive workforce.
Dr Jason Wong, interim chief dental officer, NHS England
Dr Wong took up the reins as interim chief dental officer in July this year, following two years as deputy. He is a partner at a practice in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and has a particular interest in oral surgery and implant dentistry. Made an MBE for services to dentistry and oral health in 2020, one of his first actions as interim CDO was to send out a newsletter focusing on patient safety and culture and urging dentists to report patient safety incidents.
Also read:
Revealed: the 10 most influential minority ethnic leaders in English health and care
The 50 most influential Black, Asian and minority ethnic people in health: Full list
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