Executive Directors

Prior to joining Wirral University Teaching Hospital, Janelle was the Director of Operations and Performance at Salford Royal Foundation Trust.

Janelle has worked in the NHS since qualifying as a Registered General Nurse in 1991. During her nursing career she worked in a variety of clinical areas, moving into operational management in 2004 following a spell as a ‘health economy’ service transformation lead.

Janelle is passionate about service improvement, staff development and whole system working to improve patient outcomes and experience. In 2011 she successfully integrated Salford Community Adult and Children’s Services with the acute hospital as Managing Director for Salford Health Care. In 2015 she established the Better Care at Lower Cost programme as Director for Productivity and Efficiency with the specific focus of improving patient quality and safety to drive cost reduction.

New WUTH Chief Operating Officer (COO) Hayley Kendall joined from the beginning of January 2022 from her previous COO role at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital (LHCH). Hayley is coming back to WUTH after six years away from the Trust. Prior to the COO role at LHCH, Hayley was Divisional Head of Operations for Surgery and Clinical Services at LHCH, having joined the Trust from WUTH in June 2015, where she served as Deputy Divisional Director. Hayley also spent 12 years at the Countess of Chester Hospital in a broad range of operational management roles. 

Hayley said: ‘I have very fond memories of my time at WUTH and I can’t wait to get started in the new role. There are operational challenges this winter, of course, but the WUTH team ‘can do’ attitude is still very apparent and I am looking forward to leading the Operations teams to deliver great care to our patients and to support our staff’

Deborah has worked in the NHS for over 10 years, coming through the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme. Deborah has worked as a Human Resources and Organisational Development professional in several other NHS Trusts and prior to joining WUTH, she worked as the Deputy Chief People Officer at Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust. Deborah is passionate about supporting and developing our staff to make WUTH a great place to work and to keep patients at heart of what we do.

Matthew has also held a number of other operational roles at Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust including Director of Operations at Manchester Infirmary and Trust Turnaround Director, directing the financial recovery programme. Before this Mathew worked as the Director of Healthcare Consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Sydney, Australia, leading on clinical improvements, financial recovery and mergers with a range of public and private healthcare organisations.

Mark Chidgey joined the Trust in June 2022, having been the Chief Finance officer for NHS Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group. Mark is a qualified accountant, who graduated from the University of York.

Since joining the NHS in 1990, Mark has considerable experience in both acute and commissioning sectors. Mark has worked at board level for over 10 years, most of that time as a finance leader, but his responsibilities have also included Quality, Safeguarding, Commissioning and Performance.

Mark brings with him a wealth of experience of partnership working across health and care systems and has worked at a national level on the development and implementation of payment systems and outcomes frameworks for population health.

Sam joined WUTH in June 2024, bringing over 30 years of experience in nursing and nursing leadership across a variety of specialties and roles.

She was previously Director of Nursing at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LUHFT).

She is the Trust’s CQC lead and Responsible Officer.

She believes in striving for excellence for our patients, staff and the communities we serve, achieving this through compassionate leadership and listening to the voices of people who use and deliver our services.

Ranj is currently the joint Interim Medical Director at Wirral University Teaching Hospitals (WUTH) and Wirral Community Health and Care. Ranj has been the Interim Medical Director at WUTH since January 2025, and was previously a Deputy Medical Director , focusing on quality governance, patient safety and quality improvement.

He is an experienced medical leader having previously been an Associate Medical Director for Surgical Division and Medicine and Acute Division. He has also been the clinical lead for critical care and has been a Critical Care Consultant at Wirral since 2002.

Alison Hughes is currently the joint Interim Director of Corporate Affairs at Wirral University Teaching Hospital (WUTH) and Wirral Community Health and Care.

Alison has worked in the NHS for over 10 years providing leadership and advice to NHS Board of Directors on all matters associated with corporate governance.

She has a sound understanding of the regulatory and political environment in which NHS organisations operate and provides leadership on all matters of corporate governance ensuring all statutory duties are met. She is also responsible for the Communications & Marketing strategies for the trust.

Alison has worked closely with our Board of Directors for a number of years and played a key role in leading the trust to achieve Foundation Trust status in May 2016. As such, Alison provides advice and regulatory guidance to our trust Council of Governors. Alison previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry and brings a sound understanding and almost 10 years’ experience working in the commercial healthcare sector.