Paula Clark

Chief Executive

Paula joined the Trust as Chief Executive on 1st October 2009 from Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

During her four years as Chief Executive of Burton Hospitals, she led the trust through turn-round and on to Foundation Trust status in 2008.

Paula has worked in the NHS for the past 18 years, with 10 years at Chief Executive level.

Her career in the NHS has spanned a wide range of sectors, including Chief Executive of Erewash Primary Care Trust and senior roles at Southern Derbyshire Health Authority, Nottingham City Hospital and Derbyshire Ambulance Service.

Before joining the NHS, Paula worked in sales and marketing in the pharmaceutical industry and was a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. She was also a lecturer in Marketing and Business Studies at Clarendon College, in Nottingham, and led their public relations function.

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Paul Assinder

Director of Finance and Information

Paul brings to the Trust board 26 years of experience in financial management and audit in large commercial and NHS organisations. With the last 18 years of his career at Finance Director level, Paul has significant experience of Board level challenges. This has included negotiating a major Private Finance Initiative deal to a financial close.

Today, as the Director of Finance and Information for The Dudley Group of Hospitals, one of his roles is to develop and implement the financial aspects of the Trust's strategy. While championing the highest financial standards and audit and governance standards, Paul is also interested in developing clinical performance and accountability frameworks. He is leading the Trust's Service Line Performance Management Initiative.

Qualified as a chartered and certified accountant, with a degree in Economics and Management, Paul has written widely and lectured on NHS finance matters.

He is a member of a wide range of professional bodies and networks and is a trustee of the Healthcare Financial Management Assocation and a Non-Executive Director of the Birmingham Enterprise Agency.

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Richard Beeken

Director of Operations

Richard Beeken joined the Trust in June 2010 from South Staffordshire & Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust where he spent two-and-a-half years as Chief Operating Officer.

Richard has held a variety of senior positions within the NHS since graduating from the NHS Management Training Scheme. This is his third Executive Director post.

Richard has held a number of senior posts at various trusts in the south of England and the West Midlands.

He has also worked as Divisional Manager of Surgical Services at Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals and Chief Operating Officer at Birmingham Children's Hospital before moving to South Staffordshire & Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in 2007.

Richard is responsible for service delivery in our clinical services, delivered through our clinical directorate structure, as well as leading on the Trust-wide Transformation programme which aims to deliver efficiency and quality gains in the future through effective service redesign. Richard is also the Executive responsible for Facilities and Estates through the management of the PFI contract.

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Paul Harrison

Medical Director 

As Medical Director and Consultant Haemotologist, Paul has a varied role with both clinical and managerial responsibilities.

His medical background as a Haemotologist has given him wide clinical experience and he is a Fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists. He is particularly interested in medical education and has served as Regional Speciality Advisor for both the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists.

He has previously chaired the Regional Training Committee, is currently Chair of the Haematology Specialty Advisory Committee and was previously an examiner for the Royal College of Pathologists. He currently sits on the Intercollegiate Committee for Haematology and both the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists' Working Groups looking at revalidation for doctors. Paul is also called upon to lecture and advise on a variety of clinical, managerial and professional topics and has previously been a member of the Chapter S HRG Expert Working Group.

He previously undertook the role of Lead Cancer Clinician during which time he successfully expanded cancer services while maintaining financial balance, ensuring the Trust met cancer waiting time targets.

Key operational achievements have involved the establishment of new services in Dudley. These include a nurse-led open access deep vein thrombosis diagnostic/treatment service and a peripheral blood stem cell transplantation programme. He also reconfigured working practices in the Haematology department to develop a fully integrated team-based approach by medical staff.

Paul lives locally and is married to a local General Practitioner.

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Denise McMahon

Director of Nursing

A nurse for 30 years, Denise started her nurse training in 1978 at Walsall Manor Hospital having been a nurse cadet for two years.

Denise was a senior nurse in medicine and then a general manager for medicine and surgery until she became Deputy Nurse Director in 1997. Two years later, she moved to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, in Birmingham, as Director of Nursing and Operations and then on to Kettering General in 2001 as Director of Nursing and Midwifery.

In addition to her corporate responsibilities as Director of Nursing, specific responsibilities include professional leadership for the nursing and midwifery strategy and Director of Infection Prevention and Control, a role in which she has considerable experience. She also holds the director lead role for Governance.

Denise is passionate about patient care and has continued to do clinical shifts throughout her career.