Judges

Ali qualified as a Registered General Nurse in 1994 and has since pursued numerous postgraduate studies, including becoming a Registered Mental Health Nurse in 2004. She graduated from the NHS Leadership Academy with the Nye Bevan Executive Healthcare Leadership Award in 2014. With over 30 years of experience in the NHS, Ali has held various senior positions across London, Devon, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex and had been an Executive Board member since 2016. Ali is committed to addressing health inequalities, prioritising the needs of disadvantaged groups and advocating for equitable access to services. With a focus on prevention, Ali believes in empowering families and communities to ensure that every child receives the care they need for a healthy start in life. Her clinical expertise spans acute, community, and mental health nursing, and she has also held a national position with NHS England, where she offered clinical leadership to the National Ebola Team.

Antony Tiernan is a senior communications and engagement leader with more than 30 years’ experience, including over 20 years working in the NHS. He is currently Director of Transformation Communications and Engagement at the Department of Health and Social Care, leading communications and engagement for the transformation of the health and care system. He has held senior roles at NHS England, NHS Blood and Transplant, London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade, as well as several NHS trusts. He has worked through some of the NHS and public sector’s most challenging moments, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

Nurse Lecturer, Co-vice chair of Mary seacole trust and Founding Director of Diaspora Uganda Nurses Midwives Society. Founder and Inaugural president of the uganda nurses midwives association UK.

Jas Khambh is a senior NHS healthcare leader and pharmacist with over 20 years of experience across national, regional and local healthcare systems. She has extensive expertise in clinical evidence review, medicines and medical devices, commissioning, procurement, pricing and reimbursement, and health policy development. Throughout her career, Jas has led major service redesign and transformation programmes, helping to deliver more equitable, evidence-based and cost-effective care for patients. An experienced chair and facilitator, Jas has worked with multidisciplinary teams and a wide range of stakeholders across the NHS, government and industry to support informed decision-making and drive system improvement. She is particularly skilled in translating complex clinical and operational data into actionable strategies that reduce unwarranted variation and improve patient outcomes. Her leadership is underpinned by a strong commitment to innovation, collaboration and improving healthcare services.

Mark is the Trust Chief Executive Officer of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), a group of 10 hospitals and community services that support the Greater Manchester community with a wide range of acute and specialist healthcare services. In addition to his role as CEO at MFT, Mark also currently acts as the National Priority Programme Director for Planned Care at NHS England, leading on key programmes of work for Elective Care, Cancer and Diagnostics. Mark has a long-standing career in the NHS having joined the service as a nurse in Greater Manchester in 1992. Mark became CEO of MFT in April 2023. Prior to that, he was Chief Delivery Officer for NHS England where he was responsible for driving change across the NHS to support the move to system working and enable improvements in delivery. Mark has held a range of senior leadership roles in his career, including Chief Executive at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, regional Chief Operating Officer for NHS Improvement in the Midlands and East of England, and several director roles in London NHS trusts, including Moorfields Eye Hospital, Whipps Cross and Barts Health.

Matt joined University Hospitals Tees in 2024 and leads the development and delivery of strategy for the group. He works with colleagues and partners to transform models of care, to continuously improve services and to make a difference to the lives of the people in Teesside and North Yorkshire. He has thirty years of experience in the NHS, starting in acute hospital and primary care operational management roles in Hull and London and then moving into commissioning, strategy and system leadership roles in the South East and then in Yorkshire. He moved into NHS Digital in 2016 to lead work to transform national data and analytical services, and joined NHS England in 2019 to work on primary care and system transformation nationally. He led the programme of work that established and developed integrated care systems in England, working with system leaders across the country.

With more than 20 years’ experience within the NHS, Dr Nnenna Osuji joined NHS North East London as Chief Executive Officer for the Integrated Care Board in March 2026. Nnenna previously worked as Chief Executive for North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust (North Mid), where she oversaw the transfer of Enfield Community Services to North Mid and led the organisation through embedding the Patient First Management System, which included an ambitious programme of leadership visibility and behaviours as well as driving significant and sustained increases in staff engagement. Prior to this, she was the Deputy Chief Executive at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust. She has a pedigree in academia and teaching, is an experienced haematology consultant and continues to practise. Nnenna has a proven track record as a collaborative system and regional leader, including co-chairing the London People Board and its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, and acting as North Central London ICS Lead for Community Services. She also chaired the Best Value Medicines Steering group for London until 2023. She has held clinical leadership roles at system level such as the joint clinical lead for the South West London Sustainability and Transformation Partnership, lead for community services for the North Central London Integrated Care system and Red cell improvement lead for North Central London Integrated Care system. She has previously been a member of key groups including the Faculty of Medical Leaders and Managers, London Clinical Advisory Group and the London Clinical Senate. Outside the NHS, Dr. Osuji maintains her focus on people and is a trustee of the Nuffield Trust and Tottenham Hotspurs Foundation as well as on the national healthcare advisory board for GS1 UK, which aims to drive adoption of life-critical standards within the NHS. She is an honorary professor at the University College London Global Business School for Health.

No Deputy Chief Executive & Executive Director of Strategy, People and Partnerships Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust Patrick Nyarumbu is currently Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Strategy, People and Partnerships at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. He joined BSMHFT in November 2020 and was appointed Deputy CEO in March 2023. A registered mental health nurse with over two decades of experience across acute, forensic, community, home treatment, primary care, and commissioning services, Patrick has continually driven improvements in care delivery. Before his current role, he was Director of Nursing and Quality for NHS England and NHS Improvement in the East of England and served as Deputy Regional Chief Nurse for the Midlands and East. Patrick is passionate about leadership development, talent management, and promoting diversity. As a participant of the NHS Leadership Academy’s Top Talent programme in 2011, he began a journey that solidified his commitment to equitable leadership in healthcare. In 2020, Patrick led the founding of the Jabali Men’s Network, a vital support network for male nurses from African, Caribbean, and Asian backgrounds, championing representation at senior levels with the backing of England’s Chief Nursing Officer and the NHS WRES initiative. Patrick is now the President of the Jabali Men’s Network having step down as chair of the network after 5 years. A graduate of the University of Birmingham, he holds an MSc in Healthcare Leadership, which helped him integrate academic learning into his NHS roles effectively. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to nursing and community service, Patrick was awarded an MBE in the 2022 Queen’s New Year Honours, receiving the medal from HRH Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace. Beyond his executive roles, Patrick is also a governor at Birmingham City University.

With over 35 years of experience as a nurse and a midwife, spanning both NHS and military healthcare environments, I have a wealth of expertise in clinical governance, quality improvement, patient safety, and workforce development. My background includes operational military deployment to Afghanistan as the Healthcare Governance Officer for all deployed units, where I delivered system assurance, rapid cycle improvements, and governance under high-pressure conditions. Throughout my career, I have held a number of senior leadership roles, most recently in my current role at NHS Professionals as the Director of Nursing and Quality. I support the CNO in all corporate, professional, operational, and clinical service delivery objectives and ensure high standards of clinical governance and quality are maintained within the organisation. This position involves leading and managing initiatives that enhance clinical practice and service delivery and supporting professional development across 60 NHS Trusts who NHSP provide temporary staffing for. Whilst at Devon ICB, I played a pivotal role in the Devon System Coordination Centre during winter pressures, using my operational planning expertise—refined during military service—to coordinate urgent care responses across the region. My leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in establishing and leading the Devon-wide PPE Clinical Cell, was nationally recognised as an example of innovative, compassionate leadership under pressure. I continue to serve as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves. In this national role, I support the governance, regulation, and professional development of secondary care consultants across the UK and on deployment, working closely with military medical teams and strategic leaders to shape healthcare policy and practice.

Yousaf Ahmad is Chief Pharmacist and Director of Medicines and Pharmacy at NHS Thames Valley Integrated Care Board, appointed in 2026 to lead strategic medicines commissioning across a system serving 2.5 million people in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. He joins from NHS Frimley ICB, where as ICS Chief Pharmacist he delivered significant improvements in cardiovascular outcomes, medicines safety and financial efficiency. He also had directed the South East Pharmacy, Optometry and Dental (POD) Commissioning Hub, a hosted function spanning six ICBs and around sixty staff. Yousaf holds national leadership roles across the profession: he is a Board (Council) member of the General Pharmaceutical Council, appointed by the Privy Council in 2020, chaired clinical and pharmacy leadership groups across multiple organisations, and sits on the NHS Resolution Pharmacy Panel. He is a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.