WSCCG has a governing body consisting of eight GPs from across our three localities; one secondary care lead; two lay members responsible for patient and public engagement and governance and a number of chief officers.
With GPs at the heart of clinical commissioning, we welcome you to meet the governing body:
Dr Christopher Browning
(Chair)
Dr Browning has 10 years’ experience in hospital medicine and 12 years’ experience as a GP. He has had operational experience in the out-of-hours service and many years’ experience representing his GP colleagues on the LMC.
Dr Browning is the chair of the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire CCG Network.
Dr Simon Arthur
(GP and joint lead for Forest Heath locality)
Dr Arthur has been a GMS GP Suffolk for the last 25 years and is the lead partner at Oakfield surgery in Newmarket. He is the CCG’s lead on out-of-hours and community services, end of life commissioning and the 111 service.
Dr Arthur is also the lead clinical commissioner for the East of England ambulance contract.
Dr Andrew Hassan
Dr Hassan qualified from Sheffield, held junior doctor appointments in Sheffield, entered General Practice in 1980 and was a senior partner at Avicenna surgery in Hopton until retirement from practice in 2015.
Dr Hassan has also served as the Chairman of the Bury St Edmunds PCG; PEC Chair and Board Member Suffolk West PCT; Chair of the Individual Funding Panel and Clinical Priorities Group for the joint management team of Suffolk CCGs and Medical Director of NHS Suffolk until disbanded in 2013. He has served as President of the Anglo French Medical Society since 2006.
Dr Zohra Armitage
Dr Armitage is an experienced local GP at Angel Hill Surgery in Bury St Edmunds. She has had various clinical and management responsibilities within different practices and the CCG. Her clinical interests include adolescent health, sexual health and end of life care. When not at work she is a busy mum and wife, and enjoys running and reading.
Dr Sarah Hughes – Swan Surgery Bury St Edmunds
Dr Emma Holland
Dr Holland is a salaried GP at Orchard House in Newmarket. She trained at Cambridge on the Graduate 
course following her first degree in Law and German. She was part of the West Suffolk Vocational Training Scheme, having previously worked at Papworth and Hinchingbrooke hospitals.
Dr Firas Watfeh
(GP and lead for Haverhill locality)
Dr Firas Watfeh is a GP partner at The Haverhill Family Practice. He is the GP lead for prescribing and has keen interest in Dermatology. He represents his GP colleagues on the LMC Board.
Peter Knights
(Practice Manager lead)
Mr Knights is business partner and practice manager at Mount Farm Surgery in Bury St Edmunds. He has been chair of Bury St Edmunds Commissioning Consortium, and director and secretary of WSCF. He is a founder member of WSCCG. Prior to joining the health sector Mr Knights spent more than 20 years in corporate banking, corporate finance, and latterly business planning and strategy. Mr Knights is a member of the CCG’s audit committee.
Dr Crawford Jamieson
(Secondary Care Doctor)
Dr Jamieson has 13 years experience as a consultant gastroenterologist and physician and is currently an associate medical director at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. He has gained experience of practice based commissioning from the secondary and tertiary care perspective and has seen the clear benefits of good clinical pathway design and implementation in improving the quality of care that patients receive.
He has extensive operational experience within a busy university hospital and has also been an executive board member for the last six years.
Dr Jamieson brings the above experience to the role of secondary care lead to the CCG. There is an increasing demand for diagnosis and treatment and a correctly rising public aspiration for consistently excellent healthcare. Clinicians in the community and in hospital need to work in an active and innovative partnership in order to develop the best possible service with improved cost effectiveness.
The clinical leadership of the CCG is of great importance to him in keeping the patient’s interests central to the process of commissioning.
Jo Finn
(Lay member – Patient and Public Engagement)
Jo Finn is a Director who has worked for over 40 years with or in the NHS, and with public services and related educational and development areas. She has worked in the region and nationally, including developing the national programme for shared decision making for urology patients, reviewing medical undergraduate clinical placements for the region, and setting up the prototype arrangements for major review of health professional training.
For eight years Jo was chief executive of West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust. She originally graduated in mathematics at University College London and joined the NHS from the national graduate management training scheme.
Jo is one of the three lay members of the CCG, and is responsible for leading the engagement of patients and public in West Suffolk. She believes there is no decision necessary about whether to engage – but instead the choice is what is the best way to engage?
Bill Banks
(Vice Chair and Lay Member – Governance)
Bill’s role as Lay Member for Governance is strategic and impartial and oversees key elements of governance including audit, remuneration and managing conflicts of interest. He chairs the CCG’s Audit, Remuneration & HR and Commissioning Governance Committees. He is also Vice Chair of the Governing Body. From 2007 to 2013, Bill worked for NHS Suffolk as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of its Audit Committee.
Prior to 2007, Bill worked for 42 years in local government and public transport, mainly in finance roles. His last employer was Suffolk County Council, where he held the posts of Director of Resource Management and Head of Strategic Finance. Bill is a qualified accountant and served as an examiner for his professional institute.
Steve Chicken
(Lay Member)
Steve Chicken joined the CCG’s governing body in early 2017 as lay member. He is also working for Ipswich and East CCG in the same capacity.
Steve has held senior roles in global manufacturing businesses and is a specialist in continuous improvement. He and his wife have lived in Suffolk for 17 years as do his whole family including parents, grown children and grandchild.
Dr Ed Garratt
(Chief Officer)
Dr Ed Garratt is Chief Officer for both Ipswich & East Suffolk and West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Groups.
He has previously been the chief operating officer of NHS West Suffolk CCG, building a strong reputation in Suffolk around system collaboration. Ed has over ten years’ experience of working in the NHS, has worked at regional level in commissioning and helped to develop the NHS Constitution. He also worked on the policy development associated with the government’s NHS reforms of 2012. Ed holds a Doctorate from the University of Cambridge.
Kate Vaughton
(Chief Operating Officer)
Kate joined the NHS in September 2001 and has gained extensive knowledge from working across various NHS organisations. Prior to joining WSCCG Kate was working at North East Essex CCG as Chief Operating Officer playing an active role as a Board member contributing to the development of the vision, aims and business objectives of the CCG.
Andrew Ele
y
(Debuty Chief Operating Officer)
Andrew Eley joined the CCG as deputy chief operating officer in 2013 and has nearly 20 years’ experience of working in the public sector, previously as head of planning and performance management in NHS Suffolk and prior to that working for Suffolk Constabulary. He is a qualified PRINCE2 Practitioner.
Andrew is committed to delivering the best possible health care services to local people and is keen to ensure that the patient voice is heard and listened to. Andrew is married and has two teenage children.
Barbara McLean
(Chief Nursing Officer)
Ms McLean is the CCG’s chief nurse and director of patient safety and clinical quality. She has over 30 years’ experience of working in the NHS and her most recent role has been as a project director for NHS Suffolk, focusing on developing and commissioning services for children and young people.
A qualified nurse, she has also served as chief executive officer and executive nurse for the Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust and as director of nursing for the Suffolk Mental Health Partnership.
Amanda Lyes
(Chief Corporate Services Officer)
Ms Lyes is the chief corporate services officer and has a NHS career spanning 20 years. Although professionally qualified in human resources, her portfolio also encompasses IM&T, corporate governance, information governance as well as HR. Ms Lyes’ strengths lie in the field of change management, organisational development and employee relations.
Ms Lyes has a wide understanding of NHS service delivery and is passionate about delivering a high standard of service. She is an experienced Board member having held Board level positions in two other NHS organisations and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and holds a MSc in Human Resource Management
Jan Thomas
(Chief Contracts Officer)
Ms Thomas is the chief contracts officer for Ipswich and East Suffolk and West Suffolk CCGs. Ms Thomas has over 20 years experience working in and with the NHS. Starting her career as a nurse, she has worked in acute NHS hospitals and senior roles in private sector healthcare.
Ms Thomas is focused on ensuring that the care received by the people in Suffolk is the best care possible and that service users are put at the centre of decisions made by the CCGs.
Richard Watson
(Chief Redesign Officer)
Richard is the CCG’s Chief Redesign Officer.
Richard has worked across the NHS and local government in a variety of roles most recently at NHS Enfield CCG where he led on the redesign of clinical services across the borough. He has also been an elected local councillor and cabinet member within a London borough where he led on community safety, leisure and libraries.
He is passionate about improving outcomes and his strength lays in managing complex service redesign in partnership with other stakeholders.
Kevin Bernard
Mr. Bernard is practice manager at Botesdale Health Centre. Before taking this appointment he was a non-executive director of the Suffolk GP Federation. Prior to joining the health sector Mr. Bernard spent over 25 years in the banking sector latterly in business banking. He is a current member of the CCG’s IMT Committee.
