Sheena Cumiskey MBE was appointed as Mersey Care’s new Chair by the Council of Governors in April and took up her role on 1 July 2026, her current term of office ends 30 June 2029
Sheena has had a long and distinguished career in health. She was awarded an MBE for services to mental health in 2022 and was named HSJ Chief Executive of the Year in 2015.
Before joining Mersy Care as Chair, she served as Vice-Chair, Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Quality and Outcomes Committee at Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB).
Sheena has held a range of local, regional and national advisory roles, including Chief Executive Advisor for the creation and delivery of the NHS Mental Health Long Term Plan in 2015. She also helped develop the North West Leadership Academy and chaired it for 10 years.
Before beginning her non-executive career in 2022, she spent 25 years as a Chief Executive in acute, mental health, learning disabilities, community and commissioning organisations, including Trafford PCT, Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh Health Services NHS Trust and Halton General Hospital.
Her final Chief Executive role was a 12-year tenure at Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP), a large mental health, learning disability and community trust. During this time, the Trust achieved Outstanding CQC ratings for care and maintained a strong financial position.
As well as chairing both the Council of Governors and the Board of Directors, Sheena is also chair of the Board’s Nominations, Remuneration & Terms of Service Committee.
Iain was appointed on 21 November 2023 and his current term of office ends on 20 November 2026.
Iain is the inaugural W.H. Duncan Chair of Public Health Systems and Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Innovation at the University of Liverpool, where he directs the new Civic Health Innovation Labs (CHIL) – running around £30million of research activity and associated strategic partnerships between the University, NHS, local government and industry partners.
He recently led world-first responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the world’s first evaluation of mass rapid antigen testing, risk-mitigated reopening of mass events for UK COVID-19 responses.
Iain is one of the world’s leading researchers at the interface of public health and data science and has 25 years of HealthTech experience, including raising £220million in research activity and has published more than 350 works, including software, and patents.
He also founded the UK’s first Civic Data Cooperative and previously founded Manchester’s health informatics research centre. He is qualified in pharmacology, medicine, public health, statistics and informatics and is a Fellow of American College of Medical Informatics, NIHR Senior Investigator, a recipient of the Faculty of Public Health Alwyn-Smith medal and the Royal Statistical Society Florence Nightingale Award.
Iain is a member of the Quality and Remuneration Committees and is also the Senior Independent Director.
Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Pharmacology 1989 University of Liverpool; MBChB Medicine 1991 University of Liverpool; DPH Public Health 1998 University of Cambridge; MD Computational Statistics 2000 University of Liverpool; MFPHM Public Health 2002 Faculty of Public Health; FFPH Public Health 2006 Faculty of Public Health; FACMI Medical Informatics 2012; American College of Medical Informatics
Scott was appointed on 17 January 2022, having previously been appointed as a Board Advisor in January 2021. His second term of office ends on 16 January 2028.
Scott is currently UK, Ireland & Netherlands CFO of SSP Group plc, and has extensive experience across Grocery Retail, Food & Beverage and Pharmaceuticals.
Scott has a particular passion for Data, and how it can be applied across different types of organisations to create value and drive transformational change.
Scott chairs the Audit Committee and is a member of the Resources and Remuneration Committees.
Qualifications: BA Economics, MSc International Economics, Qualified Accountant
Nicola was appointed on 24 November 2023 and her current term of office ends on 23 November 2026
Nicola brings a wealth of professional expertise to the Trust from implementing large scale and complex change, often digitally enabled and data-driven to delivering systemic improvements and innovation across the public sector. Nicola has a background in engineering and held a range of transformation and improvement leadership positions including being a Chief Digital and Information Officer in NHS integrated care systems, hospital, mental health and community trusts, higher education and policing.
Having extensive board, committee and chair experience across the public sector including at a national level, Nicola is currently a Non-Executive Director at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (where she is the Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee), a Non-Executive Director at Chesterfield Royal NHS Foundation Trust (where she is Chair of the People and Culture Committee), and a board member at South Lakes Housing and Ongo Homes.
Nicola is neurodiverse, with lived experience of long term conditions, being a carer and one parent families. This informs her approach as a compassionate leader assuring the diverse needs of our communities that are met, promoting integrated partnership working, whole system thinking and the ethical use of data to address health inequalities and protect the most vulnerable in society.
Nicola is the Vice Chair and a member of the Audit, People, Resources and Remuneration Committees.
Qualifications: BSc(Hons) Electroacoustic Engineering; MBA (Exec); Yale Certificate in Public Health; Certified International Health & Care Chief Information Officer
Mike is currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ForHousing, a social housing provider managing 19,000 homes across the North West. He is committed to driving continuous improvement, enhancing tenant satisfaction, and ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality, and equitable services.
He has over a decade of experience in the housing sector and more than 20 years in executive and board-level roles, Mike brings a wealth of leadership expertise with his previous roles including Director of Finance and Resources at North Wales Police, and he is a qualified chartered accountant. In addition to his role at ForHousing, Mike is also a Board Member at the Sovini Group.
Mike is a member of the Resources and Remuneration Committees.
Qualifications: MBA – Harvard Business School, CIMA Qualified ACMA, BA (Hons) Economics and Accountancy.
A registered physiotherapist with 40 years of experience in the NHS. Liz held a number of roles as a clinician, manager and a clinical leader. This provided her with a comprehensive understanding of the complex services and changes within social and health care.
Liz retired in April 2023 as Director of Allied Health Professions at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, a role similar to her previous jobs in having a focus on quality, good patient outcomes, staff experience, productivity and efficiency.
Member of the Audit, People, Quality and Remuneration Committees.
Qualifications: Chartered Physiotherapist.