Welcoming our NEW Non-Executive Directors to Aqua

We are delighted to announce the appointments of our new Non-Executive Directors, Alex Hatchman, Mark Duman, Maxine Power and Sughra Nazir, to Aqua.

Following the launch of our new three-year strategy, these appointments were made to support our key aim to become the improvement partner of choice for health and care by 2027. Our Non-Executive Directors will use their experience in governance, commercial, improvement and lived experience to share unique insight, engage with, and lead the wider team to achieve our longer-term goals.

Speaking about the appointments, Sue Holden, CEO at Aqua said:

“I am delighted to welcome each new member of our Non-Executive Director team to Aqua. They bring a vast amount of experience, interest, and passion for quality health and care. I am looking forward to working with the team as we continue to deliver our strategy to our members and customers.”

Meet the Team

Alex Hatchman – Governance, Legal and Leadership Lead

Alex specialises in strategy and transformation, leadership and people and brings a wealth of experience across the legal and retail industries to Aqua.  Alex recently transitioned her career to focus on non-executive work and in addition to her role at Aqua, she is a Board Director of the Teenage Cancer Trust in the North West and an advisor to investment firms. Alex was the CEO of two law firms and spent over a decade working in retail as an executive for Marks and Spencer in the UK and Coles in Australia. Alex received a First-Class master’s degree in engineering from Oxford University in 1997 and an MBA from INSEAD in 2003. In 2018, Alex became the first person to win the Law Society’s Excellence in Practice Management Award. In recent years, Alex completed the Strategic Leadership executive programme at Oxford University and received a Certificate in Innovation from Cambridge University in 2022. Most recently, Alex was included in the 2023 North West Business Insider Professional Power List.

Alex commented:

“I am genuinely delighted to have joined Aqua, supporting Sue Holden, Phil Wadeson and the rest of the organisation. I very much look forward to meeting as many of the team as possible and using my diverse business background to enable Aqua to achieve its goals.”

Mark Duman – Commercial Lead

Mark Duman brings over 30 years of clinician, management consultant and patient perspectives experience to the healthcare, life sciences and digital health sectors. Working in the NHS, The King’s Fund, the BBC, and as a Founder of the Patient Information Forum, Mark endeavours to make healthcare more person-centric. As part of his role as Chief Patient Officer for MD Healthcare, Mark works with organisations including AstraZeneca, Diabetes UK, Google Health, Innovate UK, JnJ, Macmillan Cancer Support, Microsoft, Pfizer, Novartis and Siemens Healthineers to harness digital health, improve patient engagement and develop key markets. His vast experience around tech-enabled provision and working with commercial partners has brought to life some of the lived experience elements and self-managed care.

Mark said:

“I am truly delighted to be joining Aqua to seek out ways, including potential new partnerships, to bring their excellence in service improvement to a broader range of NHS organisations and beyond.”

Dr Maxine Power – Improvement Science and Practice Lead

Dr Maxine Power is an NHS Executive with over 30 years’ experience leading improvement. Maxine initially trained as a clinician and throughout her eclectic career, worked across clinical practice and academia in a variety of settings. Maxine brings a wealth of experience to Aqua and has published over 20 peer-reviewed publications in Improvement which focus on large-scale change, measurement, evaluation, and patient safety. Her reputation and work in leadership spans across four Integrated Care Boards in the North West, and she presents on systems leadership for quality, safety, improvement and digital nationally and internationally. Maxine is currently the Executive Director of Quality, Innovation, and Improvement at the North West Ambulance Service with responsibility for patient safety, innovation, improvement, and digital systems.

Maxine said:

“Aqua has a central role in supporting the delivery of improvement support to the NHS and its partners and creating the opportunity to re-imagine healthcare. I am delighted to be joining the Aqua Board at such an exciting time.”

Sughra Nazir – Lived Experience Lead

Sughra Nazir brings a wealth of experience to Aqua, with a background in supporting the health and social care sector with care quality, safeguarding and regulatory compliance. Sughra began her career as a social worker and more recently has worked for the Care Quality Commission as an inspector and National Provider Relationship Lead, as well as Non-Executive Director at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Sughra brings a core set of values that match with Aqua’s, and has particular interest in improving maternity, children with disabilities, learning disability and dementia services.

Sughra said:

“This is a really exciting time to be joining Aqua and I am delighted to be appointed, just as we embark on a new chapter in partnering for excellence. While I was attracted by the quality and safety improvement offer, it’s been the commitment to lived experience that’s really impressed me so far. I am really looking forward to being a part of the team.”

Phil Wadeson, Acting Chair of Aqua’s Board, added:

“The appointment of our Non-Executive Directors and Dr Susy Cook, who will be joining us shortly as our new CEO, along with Sue moving into the Chair role, means we are in a strong position to deliver our strategy and ultimately become the improvement partner of choice. I extend my warmest welcome to the team and I look forward to working with them as we embark upon a new chapter at Aqua.”