Board committees
Non-Executive Directors
The role of Non-Executive Directors is to provide leadership for the organisation and hold our Executive Directors to account.
*Joint post with Dorset County Hospital
David Clayton-Smith (Joint Chair) – appointed 01/05/2023
David joined Dorset County Hospital and Dorset HealthCare as Joint Chair in May 2023.
David is a vastly experienced chair and non-executive director,
David has held non-executive director roles at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust and has been Chair at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, as well as the NHS Sussex and NHS Surrey Primary Care Trusts.
From 2019-22, David was Independent Chair at the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire West Integrated Care System. He was also an Independent Chair at Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust. David’s executive career was spent in marketing roles across the retail and hospitality sector.
Suresh Ariaratnam - appointed 01/09/25
Suresh Ariaratnam has worked in the creative industries for twenty-five years, primarily as a literary and talent agent, focusing on representing authors from Black and Asian communities.
He remains involved in helping to ensure the equitable treatment
As a Non-Executive director for Dorset HealthCare and NHS Somerset, he is especially interested in the broader socio-economic determinants of health and their relationship to inequalities, and in a holistic understanding of wellbeing which champions the interdependency between personal, societal, and planetary health.
Suresh also serves as a co-chair of Literature Works, a trustee of Trussell, a director of Norland College, and a member of the British Library Advisory Council. In 2022, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of Somerset in 2024.
Image credit: Joe Short
Andreas Haimboeck-Tichy
Andreas has more than 25 years of experience in the IT/digital industry and is currently Managing Director at Healthcare at Accenture UK with a mission to help the NHS transform through the use of data, Artificial Intelligence and other digital technologies.
Prior to that he was a Director at Healthcare and Life Sciences at IBM UK. He has worked to improve children’s experience of hospital stays and visits with Alder Hey Hospital, with Versus Arthritis UK to improve patient pain management and with Velindre NHS Trust to improve patient experience during cancer treatment using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Following Wannacry, Andreas led the work with NHS Digital for Cyber Security supporting the NHS system to become more resilient and better prepared for future cyber attacks.
He previously also worked with a charity for the disabled as a member of the Board of Trustees overseeing the development of strategy and approving the strategic direction and policies for the charity. Andreas is currently the Chair of the Health and Social Care (HSC) Council, techUK and leads regular Council meetings. This has included the co-ordination of techUK HSC Industry response to COVID-19, current work on Frontline Digitisation and initiatives focusing on diversity and inclusion and the development of skills and tech talent in the health tech sector.
Eiri Jones (joint NED) – appointed 01/01/2022
Eiri Jones joined the Dorset County Hospital in January 2022 and more recently (September 2024) been appointed into a roles a joint Non-Executive Director at Dorset HealthCare.
Eiri is a Registered Adult and Children’s Nurse; has an MA in Professional Development, and is a QI practitioner supporting several trusts with improvement work.
Eiri has clinical, managerial and executive leadership knowledge and skills gained during a career spanning more than 45 years. Eiri has held senior and board positions in a range of trusts in England and Wales and has also held regional (Trust Development Authority), national (Welsh Government and State of Qatar) and regulatory (Nursing and Midwifery Council) appointments. Her most recent full-time role was as the Regional Director for Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) in the South West region. She is a Clinical Non-Executive Director in Salisbury Foundation Trust and has recently moved to Dorset.
Claire Lehman (joint NED) – appointed 18/07/2023
As a GP and public health consultant, Claire brings a holistic perspective in understanding needs of the changing demographic of our local communities. She is a keen advocate of empowering individuals to direct their own health trajectories.
Her previous leadership experience includes roles as health protection lead consultant in a local authority during the COVID-19 pandemic , as a GP partner, as a GP clinical lead for quality and as an LMC Medical Director, as well as 18 months as Medical Officer for the British Antarctic Survey.
Claire is strongly motivated to positively influence the health and social care services of those served by the Trust.
Steven Peacock
Steven is the Chief Finance Officer for the National Trust where his responsibilities beyond finance include IT, Procurement & Risk Management. Prior to this Steven was the Chief Finance Officer for the RNLI for 7 years, navigating through pandemics and cost of living challenges.
Steven is a graduate in Economics and a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years of experience working in both finance and commercial roles for many household brand names such as Fosters Brewing Group, United Biscuits, Superdrug, Homebase, WH Smith and Estée Lauder.
Steven also served for 8 years as a Non-Executive Director of The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Foundation Trust, retiring as Vice Chair in September 2017.
David Underwood
Dave is an experienced senior leader having worked first at the Civil Aviation Authority as an Air Traffic Control Scientist and Research Manager before joining the Met Office, in 1998, to lead their Civil Aviation Business.
Over 20 years with the Met Office Dave undertook a range of senior executive roles including Group Head of Public Sector Business, Deputy Director of Technology and Information Systems and latterly Deputy Director of High-Performance Computing.
In addition to his executive roles Dave has more than 10 years non-executive leadership experience gained in the fields of Environmental Business, Further Education (serving on the Board of Exeter College) and most recently as a Non-Executive Independent Advisor to the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust with regard to their MyCare Technology enabled Transformation Programme. Dave is passionate about delivering effective leadership of change and promoting the benefits of careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.
Frances West (joint NED) – appointed 23/09/2024
Frances brings a varied career experience to her non-executive role. She started her civilian working life in 2008 after more than 20 years in the army where she was a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Military Police.
She moved into local government with Purbeck District Council initially, as the Head of Legal and Democratic services and then went on to run their public health and housing services.
More recently, Frances has worked in the charity sector with senior roles with Help for Heroes, Age UK and EDP Drug and Alcohol Services. She is also the Senior Independent Director on the Board of Westward Housing Group and was a Non-Executive Director for Tricuro Ltd until May 2023.
Executive Directors
Executive Directors are employees of the Trust who lead on developing and implementing our strategic goals, and are responsible for the delivery and performance of our services.
*Joint post with Dorset County Hospital
Matthew Bryant (Joint Chief Executive Officer) – appointed 01/04/2023 
Matthew joined Dorset County Hospital and Dorset HealthCare trusts as Joint CEO in March 2023.
He previously worked for Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust where he was Chief Operating Officer for hospital services.
He led the Somerset health and care system boards for planned and unplanned care, and previously led surgical and medical services at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS FT, as well as redesigning care for frail older people.
Over a 25-year career in the NHS he has worked with hospital, community and mental health services, and helped to establish the Peninsula Medical School in the southwest. He is passionate about empowering NHS staff and working in partnership across organisations to improve health outcomes for local people.
Dawn Dawson (Joint Chief Nursing Officer) – appointed 01/04/2024
Dawn is a highly motivated, confident, and enthusiastic clinical executive with extensive and varied executive leadership experience in community, mental health, secondary care, and system settings.
Her focus is on strategic thinking, combined with collaborative high trust leadership.
Dawn is a registered nurse with an extensive clinical background having worked across acute, community and the mental health sector. Her commitment is to create an empowered culture in which all colleagues strive to deliver safe, high quality, compassionate care every day.
Dawn has a broad academic background, which includes psychology, law, legal practice, post-compulsory education, strategic system leadership, and business administration.
Dawn is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Management Institute and a qualified executive coach. Dawn was awarded a visiting professorship from Bournemouth University in 2021.
She was appointed Chief Nurse at Dorset HealthCare in April 2018 and since April 2024 has been Joint Chief Nurse for both Dorset HealthCare and Dorset County Hospital.
Chris Hearn (Joint Chief Financial Officer) – appointed 01/02/2024
During his time in the NHS, Chris has worked in a number of senior finance roles within acute, mental health and community trusts, and prior to this has experience across a variety of technical and commercial finance roles within a large Fast Moving Consumer Goods organisation.
Chris is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), having qualified with PwC London where he was involved in the audit of a number of FTSE 100 companies.
Chris joined Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in October 2022 and was subsequently appointed into the role of Joint Chief Finance Officer across Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust and Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust with effect from October 2024.
Jenny Horrabin (Joint Executive Director of Corporate Affairs) – appointed 11/03/24
Jenny was appointed Joint Executive Director of Corporate Affairs for Dorset HealthCare and Dorset County Hospital in March 2024. She is a qualified accountant and chartered company secretary. She worked in audit and assurance for over 20 years in the public and private sector, before moving into a Company Secretary role in the NHS in 2012.
She joined the trusts from Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust, having previously worked in senior governance and corporate affairs roles in two Clinical Commissioning Groups. Jenny has a passion for continuous improvement and excellence in practice and is an active member of the NHS Company Secretaries Network and a member of the HFMA Audit and Governance Committee. She is also a trustee of a charity and an Audit Committee Member at Citizen Housing.
Dr Lucy Knight (Chief Medical Officer)
Lucy previously worked at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust where she was the Medical Director for Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Community Services. She is an old age psychiatrist and has worked in liaison services for many years.
Lucy has a passion for person-centred, inclusive care, and has supported the development of clinical and organisational strategy around the integration of services and systems.
She has been a Dorset resident for most of her life, and has family and roots across the county.
Nicola Plumb (Joint Chief People Officer) – appointed 01/02/24
Nicola joined Dorset HealthCare’s Trust Board in 2014 and was appointed Joint Chief People Officer in February 2024.
She is passionate about the NHS and has spent her career in the public sector since graduating from Durham University with a Politics degree in 2000.
Nicola has held a variety of communications and development roles in the NHS and Department of Health including working at NHS Bournemouth and Poole, Communications Advisor to the NHS Chief Executive and working as Head of Brand for NHS England.
Rachel Small (Chief Operating Officer) – appointed 06/04/25
Rachel has more than 15 years of experience working in the health and social care system in Dorset.
She has led a wide range of mental health and community services including primary care, social care, community care, specialist and tertiary services, working alongside numerous commissioning bodies.
In her previous role as Service Director, Rachel was responsible for all age mental health and learning disabilities services in Dorset HealthCare, as well as services for children, young people and families. Her portfolio covered more than 200 teams with around 3,000 staff. Rachel is passionate about bringing lived experience into service delivery and enabling professionals and people using services to recognise the contribution peer specialists can offer.
Her other professional passion is in advocating for gender equality, and she was a founding member and co-chair of Dorset HealthCare’s Women’s Network. She is a chartered manager with the Chartered Management Institute and active in local voluntary work.