Membership of the Trust Board
Non-executive members
Non-executive members of the Board are appointed in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.
The appointments are for a fixed-term period of four years, after which the non-executive members will change.
The Chair is required to commit three days per week, while non-executive directors are required to commit one day per week.
There are eight non-executive members of the Northern Health and Social Care Trust Board.
All non-executive members can be contacted through our Business Support Manager, email: karen.okane@northerntrust.hscni.net.
Anne O’Reilly, OBE
Chair, Northern Health and Social Care Trust
Voting member
Anne O’Reilly joined the Northern Trust on 1 May 2023. Prior to this, she was a Non-Executive Director with the Belfast Trust and Northern Ireland Social Care Council. Anne has a long track record of work in the voluntary sector, primarily at Chief Executive level, and currently works in a voluntary capacity with a women’s sector organisation. She has been awarded an OBE for services to older people and voluntary sector.
Anne is Chair of the Remuneration Committee, Charitable Trust Funds Advisory Committee and Northern Partnership and Population Health Committee, and a member of the Adoption Panel.
Carol Diffin
Non-Executive Director
Voting member
Carol Diffin has over 39 years’ experience working in the statutory health and social care sector. She is a qualified social worker and has worked primarily in children’s services across Belfast Trust, Southern Trust and the Northen Ireland Guardian Ad Litem Agency. She has held several senior management positions, including Director of Children’s Community Services/Executive Director of Social Work in the Belfast Trust from September 2018 until September 2022. Carol is currently an Associate Consultant with the HSC Leadership Centre and an Associate with Clinical Leadership Solutions.
Carol is Chair of the Outcomes and Assurance Committee.
Dr Janet Gray, MBE
Non-Executive Director
Voting member
Janet Gray has experience in working in elite sport and in the charity and public sectors. She is four times World Disabled Water Ski Champion and world record holder. She is passionate about charity work and is a founder member, former Chair, Director and currently Honorary President of Disability Sports NI.
Janet has been awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her work with sport for the disabled.
Kathy Mackenzie, BEM
Non-Executive Director
Voting member
Kathy worked in the education sector after receiving an MA from Dundee University. She returned to university and obtained a post graduate diploma in accounting, before changing career direction. She set up her own bookkeeping business, working with small businesses in the Causeway area, and specialising in forensic accounting and payroll services.
Kathy has been awarded a British Empire Medal for her services to social housing in Northern Ireland.
Paul Douglas
Non-Executive Director
Voting member
Paul Douglas has 28 years’ experience within the Police Service of Northern Ireland, with 15 years as a senior manager prior to availing of voluntary severance in 2010. He has extensive experience in finance, human resources and partnership working. In the previous 14 years, he has held non-executive roles with the Patient and Client Council, the Probation Board for Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Audit Office.
Paul is Chair of the Audit Committee.
Paul Turley
Non-Executive Director
Voting member
Paul Turley has over 40 years’ experience working in the Northern Ireland health and social care system. As a local population health lead, he managed the South Eastern Local Commissioning Group for 13 years, and also co-ordinated the regional commissioning of palliative and end-of-life care services and healthcare in the criminal justice system.
Scott Armstrong
Non-Executive Director
Voting member
Scott Armstrong is Head of Expleo Group in Northern Ireland and has been a member of the senior management team in the UK and Ireland since 2008. With over 27 years in the IT industry, he has held a range of director roles in sales, operations and delivery management.
Scott is Chair of the Resources Committee.
Michael Keating, MBE
Non-Executive Director
Voting member
Michael Keating brings over thirty years of experience to the Board and has held a wide variety of strategic and operational roles in the private, public, and voluntary sectors, at both global and local levels. His recent roles have focused on risk management and corporate governance, alongside effective project management and the implementation of management systems. Michael served in a non-civil service public sector role for 20 years and in 1995 was awarded the MBE for his distinguished service.
Michael is a member of the Northern Trust Adoption Panel, Outcomes and Assurance Committee and Remuneration Committee.
Executive members
Executive members (directors) of the Trust Board are paid employees of the Trust, who attend Trust Board meetings, alongside non-executive directors. They share responsibility for the Trust’s performance, strategy, and financial management, and are ultimately accountable for the effective and efficient delivery of services to the public. There are five executive directors of the Northern Health and Social Care Trust Board.
Suzanne Pullins
Interim Chief Executive
Voting member
The Chief Executive is responsible for the overall performance of the executive functions of the Trust, and is the Accounting Officer for the Trust, responsible for ensuring the discharge of obligations under Financial Directions and in line with the requirements issued by the Department of Health.
Suzanne Pullins was appointed Interim Chief Executive on 1 October 2025. Prior to this, she was Executive Director of Nursing since September 2020, and Divisional Director, responsible for paediatrics, women’s services, and corporate support. Since starting her career as a Registered General Nurse in 1987, Suzanne has acquired a wealth of knowledge in operational management; she is skilled in professional leadership, and has a proven track record in patient safety and quality improvement.
Business Support Manager: karen.okane@northerntrust.hscni.net
Owen Harkin
Executive Director of Finance
Voting member
The Executive Director of Finance provides financial advice to the Trust, and to its members, and, is responsible for the supervision of financial control and accounting systems. Their role, along with the Chief Executive, is to ensure the discharge of obligations under relevant Financial Directions.
Owen Harkin joined the Trust as Executive Director of Finance in September 2015, and took up the role of Deputy Chief Executive in April 2020. As Executive Director of Finance, he leads on financial strategy, annual financial planning, and delivery of statutory financial targets. Owen is past president of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Personal Assistant: Jill.McBride@northerntrust.hscni.net
Gill Murphy
Interim Executive Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals
Voting member
The Executive Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals is responsible for providing the Board with an assurance on professional nursing, midwifery and allied health professions governance within the Trust. They are responsible for strategic direction, quality and standards, and regulatory requirements.
The Executive Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals also holds the Divisional Director role for Paediatrics, Women’s Services and Corporate Support.
Gill Murphy took up post as Interim Executive Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals on 23 October 2025.
Personal Assistant: Tracey.McClurken@northerntrust.hscni.net
Maura Dargan
Executive Director of Social Work
Voting member
The Executive Director of Social Work is responsible for ensuring that the Trust fulfils its statutory functions and meets regulatory requirements for the social care workforce, and that we have adequate arrangements in place to meet standards for safeguarding of children, vulnerable adults and mental health clients.
The Executive Director of Social Work also holds the role of Divisional Director of Children and Young People, responsible for operational management of family and child care social work, safeguarding and corporate parenting.
Maura Dargan has held the role of Executive Director of Social Work since September 2019. She joined the Trust in 1993 after starting her career as a childcare social worker in Antrim, and has held various middle and senior management positions before being appointed as Executive Director.
Personal Assistant: Julie.Scobie@northerntrust.hscni.net
George Gardiner
Executive Director of Medicine
Voting member
The Executive Director of Medicine is responsible for key aspects of clinical and governance and to ensure that appropriate systems and process are in place to ensure the safety and quality of services to patients and clients. This responsibility is shared with the Executive Director of Social Work.
George Gardiner took up the post of Executive Director of Medicine for the Northern Trust in November 2025. George has studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and undertook his initial training in Lothians and East of Scotland. He pursued a career in Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine, fellowship from the College of Anaesthetists RCSI, and has been a consultant in Northern Ireland for more than 20 years. He has experience in delivering critical care in conflict zones and other extreme locations in the UK and abroad, and worked in the Nightingale ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has held a number of medical leadership roles at trust and regional level ands well as having been a school governor and director of a charitably funded nursing home.
Personal Assistant: Dorothy.Killough@northerntrust.hscni.net
Other senior executives who attend Trust Board meetings
Gillian Traub
Director of Operations
The Director of Operations has devolved accountability for Trust-wide operational, professional and statutory requirements and decisions as required by the Chief Executive. They also ensure that service divisions have mechanisms and improvement plans in place to operate within and contribute to the Trust’s Integrated Governance and Assurance Framework.
Gillian Traub was appointed Director of Operations on 25 September 2023. Gillian has significant operational and strategic management experience leading local and regional services in Northern Ireland since 2006. She is a former NHS England Graduate Management Trainee and worked for five years in two large NHS Trusts in London. She is a graduate of Oxford University, a Generation Q Fellow with the Health Foundation, and holds a Masters in Leadership and Quality Improvement. Prior to joining the Trust, Gillian held a director role in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.
Personal Assistant: Fiona.Dowie@northerntrust.hscni.net
Jacqui Reid
Director of Human Resources, Organisation Development and Corporate Communications
The Director of Human Resources is responsible to the Chief Executive for ensuring that there are comprehensive systems and processes in place for effective human resource management. They are responsible for the Head of Office function and the collation of information raised under the Raising a Concern in the Public Interest (formerly referred to as Whistleblowing), and reporting of this information to the Audit Committee.
Jacqui joined the Trust in September 2014, and has over 25 years’ experience in human resources across both public and private sector, having held a number of senior roles in employment consultancy, health and central government. She is a member of the Trust’s Executive Team, and a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Personal Assistant: Carla.Monk@northerntrust.hscni.net
Divisional directors who attend Trust Board meetings
Divisional directors with responsibility for operational aspects of Trust business and services also attend Trust Board meetings.
Dr Petra Corr
Director of Mental Health, Learning Disability and Psychological Services
The Director of Mental Health, Learning Disability and Psychological Services is responsible for the delivery of a broad range of services, including acute and community mental health services, services for people with learning disabilities, adult mental health psychology and clinical health psychology.
Petra Corr was appointed Director on 6 October 2022. She is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist. Since qualifying from Queen’s University Belfast in 1994, Petra has worked as a clinical psychologist in learning disability and mental health services and has particular expertise in relation to models of community treatment services.
Personal Assistant: CarolAnn.Morris@northerntrust.hscni.net
Paddy Graffin
Director of Infrastructure
The Divisional Director of Infrastructure is responsible for the delivery of a large number of services by our estates and capital development teams, who play a crucial role in providing a safe, sustainable, and patient-centric environment for our healthcare professionals and patients alike.
Paddy Graffin took up the role of Director of Infrastructure on 13 July 2023. He has worked in health and social care since 1994, serving his entire career in the Northern Trust area. He is committed to improving outcomes for all service users.
Personal Assistant: Lynda.Johnson@northerntrust.hscni.net
Audrey Harris
Director of Medicine and Emergency Medicine
The Director of Medicine and Emergency Medicine is responsible for the provision of all acute emergency and unscheduled care services, along with medical specialties such as, for example, medicine, cardiology, care of the elderly, rheumatology, dermatology, diabetes and endocrinology.
Audrey Harris was appointed to the role of Divisional Director of Medicine and Emergency Medicine on 6 October 2022. A Registered General Nurse since 1991, Audrey has a specialist practice qualification and has held a number of roles in health and social care across community and acute settings.
Personal Assistant: Colette.Carey@northerntrust.hscni.net
Neil Martin
Divisional Director of Strategic Planning, Performance and ICT
The Divisional Director of Strategic Planning, Performance and ICT provides a range of essential Trust-wide functions, including corporate planning, contracts, equality, involvement, performance, reform, quality improvement, informatics, information governance, ICT and encompass. The director also has responsibility for the Community Wellbeing Service.
Neil Martin was appointed Divisional Director of Strategic Planning, Performance and ICT in October 2022. Neil is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast and entered the health service through the HSC Management Training Scheme. He joined the Trust in 2010 as project manager for acute service reform.
Personal Assistant: Lynda.Johnson@northerntrust.hscni.net
Lynne McCartney
Director of Surgery and Clinical Services (Interim)
The Director of Surgical and Clinical Services is responsible for a wide range of services including surgery and elective care, diagnostics, cancer services, outpatients, laboratory services, and specialties such as orthoptics and ophthalmology.
Lynne McCartney was appointed Interim Director for Surgery and Clinical Services in December 2024. Prior to this, she was Assistant Director of Surgery and Acute Elective Services from January 2022. She was employed by the Belfast Trust before joining the Northern Trust as Governance Manager in acute services in 2013, before becoming Physiotherapy Services Manager in 2016. Lynne is a qualified physiotherapist from Ulster University and holds a MSc in Health Sciences.
Personal Assistant: Kathleen.McErlane@northerntrust.hscni.net
Diane Spence
Director of Community Care
The Divisional Director of Community Care supports the development of primary and community care for older people within the Northern Trust area. This includes community teams, continence services, treatment rooms, and Trust-wide services such as podiatry, wheelchair services, occupational therapy, community equipment, and recovery services.
Diane Spence was appointed to the role of Divisional Director of Community Care on 6 October 2022. She is responsible for a wide range of services to older people in the community, including homecare, district nursing, community hospitals, and supporting living services. Diane has worked in mental health and learning disability services for over 15 years.
Personal Assistant: Anna.Kelly@northerntrust.hscni.net
Jacqui Armstrong
Transformation Lead for Intermediate Care and Integrated Discharge
The Transformation Lead for Intermediate Care and Integrated Discharge is responsible for delivering on a range of reform initiatives as part of the Trust’s unscheduled care improvement plan. The role places a specific focus on the establishment of an integrated discharge function to support the timely discharge of patients from an acute hospital to an appropriate setting as well as the establishment of a Hospital at Home service.
Jacqui Armstrong was appointed to the role of Transformation Lead for Intermediate Care and Integrated Discharge on 17 November 2025. Jacqui has a professional background in Human Resources and has been employed with the Trust for over 25 years with experience working across a range of programmes of care, most recently as Assistant Director of Community Mental Health Services.
Declaration of Interests
It is a basic requirement that chairs and all board members should declare any conflict of interest that arises in the course of conducting Health and Social Care business. Chairs and board members must declare on appointment any business interests, position of authority in a charity or voluntary body in the field of health and social care, and any connection with a voluntary or other body contracting for HSC services.
The Register of Interests provides information for Northern Trust Board members. A copy is available here.
Business Support Manager: karen.okane@northerntrust.hscni.net
