Board of Directors

The Symphony Healthcare Services Board of Directors is directly involved in the day-to-day running of the organisation and has experience from a wide range of healthcare professionals and advocates.

The Board role is to direct and control the organisation in the public’s interest and is tasked with ensuring accountability to the public and to its parent company, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. All the Board members take collective responsibility for the Board’s decisions and performance.

The main function of the Board of Directors is to establish strategic direction, aims and values of the organisation, and ensure that these are delivered. The Board also has a duty to understand and manage risk.

 

Board of Directors

 
Kate Fallon, Chair
Kerry White, Managing Director
Kerry commenced her NHS career through the NHS Management Graduate Scheme in 2002 based within Slough, Berkshire and has a MSc in Health Care Management.  During the next 15 years Kerry has worked in senior operational and strategic management roles within NHS hospitals in Somerset including Deputy Director of Operations at Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.  Kerry joined SHS as Chief Operating Officer in 2018 and then went on to be appointed as Managing Director in 2019.

Dr Berge Balian, Medical Director
Dr Berge Balian has been a full time GP in a large semi-rural practice in Somerset with approximately 11,000 patients for the past 24 years, having completed his medical training at St Thomas’s Hospital in London. Berge has a career long interest in medical politics and has been a representative of the South Somerset GP practices on the Somerset Local Medical Committee (LMC) for the whole of his GP career; including a period as Chair of the LMC.  He was Associate Medical Director for Primary Care at YDH from 2013 to 2017 and was elected to the role of Chair of the Symphony Programme Board in April 2015.  Berge then became the Interim Medical Director for SHS in April 2016 and was appointed as the substantive Medical Director role in April 2017.

David Shannon, Director
Andy Heron, Director
Andy was one of two chief operating officers for Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust before the trusts merged in April 2023 and is now the single chief operating officer and deputy chief executive for the trust (the Parent Company of Symphony). Andy joined the NHS in Somerset in 2014 when he joined Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust as chief operating officer. Having originally qualified as an occupational therapist, he worked in a number of clinical roles within mental health across the south west before moving into leadership roles during the 1990s. Andy played a role in the establishment of a new specialist NHS mental health trust serving the Avon and Wiltshire areas and became the general manager of mental health services for seven years up to 2006. Following this, Andy gained a broad range of experience in London and the south west in senior commissioning and provider roles in the NHS, and also in social care, with most of his work being focused on service modernisation. Andy maintains a strong interest in care pathway redesign and service transformation and in recent years has taken on a number of system leadership roles within Somerset, centred on improving patient flow and working with partners in the development of successful community alternatives to hospital admission. Andy was the joint senior responsible officer for the Somerset COVID-19 Vaccination Programme.

PPG Representative John Falconer
John Falconer, Patient Participation Group Representative
John spent his career in the aerospace and defence sector, he is a former Programme and Operations Director at Westland Helicopters and latterly an independent business management consultant, specialising in programme management and productivity improvement.  John is a firm advocate of bringing the voice of the patient to all NHS bodies.

Executive Team

 
Philip Ayton - Director of Finance
Philip Ayton, Finance Director
Philip is a Chartered Management Accountant and has over 30 years’ experience working in a commercial environment in a diverse range of industry sectors including manufacturing, financial services, leisure and recruitment. His roles have spanned organisations varying in size and include ICI, Randstad, Fitness First, SimplyHealth and Ageas Insurance. In recent years Philip has held a number of Head of Finance and Divisional Finance Director positions. He has also acted as interim Deputy Director of Finance for Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

 

Lynsey Sandle, People Services Director
Lynsey Sandle, People Services Director

Lynsey is a Chartered Member of the CIPD and has over 17 years of HR and people services management experience. She has previously worked in the private sector for a large Ministry of Defence contractor in the Southwest of England before joining Symphony Healthcare Services in 2015 and supporting the organisation’s initial establishment and subsequent growth and expansion. Lynsey leads on workforce development, staff retention and engagement and learning and development and is responsible for the strategic direction of the people services function.

Liz Jagelman, Operations Director
Liz joined the NHS in 1995 and has worked in acute, commissioning and primary care settings, giving her a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of NHS working.  Liz has a very strong background in Governance, Patient Safety and Quality Improvement with a drive and passion for improving Patient Care.  Liz studied for her MSc in Risk Management passing with a first in 2013.  Liz joined Symphony Health Care Services Limited in December 2015 as the Governance Manager, then taking on the interim post of Head of Operations in December 2016 before becoming substantive in April 2017. Liz’s operational and managements skills are exceptional and she is always ready and keen to lead by example.  Liz has extensive experience and knowledge of managing staff, managing difficult situations, project management skills and change management.

 

Bryony Finch, Corporate Director
Bryony Finch, Corporate Director
After obtaining a LLB Law degree in 2013, Bryony began working in Human Resources for a large retail chain prior to joining the NHS in 2015. After initially supporting the establishment and work of the Symphony Vanguard Programme, Bryony continued working under the Symphony umbrella by supporting the subsequent establishment and management of Symphony Healthcare Services. Bryony leads on contractual and digital changes across the organisation and undertakes the role of Company Secretary advising on Corporate Governance.

 

Kate Williams, Nursing & AHP Director
Kate Williams, Nursing & AHP Director