Introducing your Board: Director of Finance and Director of Clinical Quality

This week, Need to Know will be introducing you to the Trust Board so that you can get to know the people behind the strategic decisions of the service, and their work to improve patient care.

At the annual public meeting of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) in Ipswich on Wednesday, staff, volunteers and visitors were introduced to two new members of the Board - Director of Finance Kevin Smith and Director of Clinical Quality Tracy Nicholls.

Tracy and Kevin help to make up the executive and non-executive board at EEAST, with a wealth of experience in both of their areas.

Chief Executive Dr Anthony Marsh said: "Wednesday gave Tracy and Kevin an ideal opportunity to set out their vision for how the Trust will continue to make the necessary improvements that are so vital for our service. Whilst noting the challenges of 2013-14, the key areas of their presentations were to outline their priorities for the coming year in terms of improving still further the clinical excellence and financial stability of this organisation. 

“A great strength of our Board is the way in which the whole region is represented in geography, staff group and patient interests. We have an excellent blend of experience and determination to succeed in the process of re-building this organisation so that once again it can become one of the best in the country.”

Starting today, we’ll be introducing both the executive and non-executive Board members with a bit of their background.

Tracy Nicholls

Tracy began her ambulance career in 1995, and qualified as a paramedic in 1998. She’s worked mainly in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire localities including station management, senior clinical roles, and this new position for her includes overseeing patient care standards and safety to improve patient outcomes. Her particular interests lie in patient safety, sepsis, pain management and bariatric patients.

Kevin Smith

Norfolk-based Kevin has worked at senior levels in the ambulance service for several years, and currently looks after the team based mainly in the Norwich office.