Portfolio
Russell is the chief delivery officer across University Hospitals Tees, leading the delivery of the group’s clinical service units.
Core objectives
- Improve hospital operational performance: Use data‑driven thinking and cross‑functional leadership to streamline processes, reduce friction, and enhance patient flow.
- Shape positive organisational culture: Build environments where staff feel valued, supported, and empowered to deliver excellent care.
- Develop high‑performing teams: Coach, mentor, and grow teams that collaborate effectively and take pride in their work.
- Drive continuous improvement: Embed learning, reflection, and iteration into everyday practice to raise standards across services.
- Strengthen patient‑centred care: Ensure operational decisions always connect back to patient experience, safety, and outcomes.
Your background
I began my career in the fintech sector before discovering my true passion in healthcare, a field where I could use my analytical skills, leadership experience, and curiosity to make a meaningful difference. Over the past 20 years, I’ve worked across seven hospitals in the NHS, focusing on improving operational performance and shaping the cultures in which teams deliver care.
What drives me is the intrinsic reward loop, the satisfaction of seeing real improvements in how people work, how patients are supported, and how organisations evolve. I’m continuously learning, always looking for ways to help hospitals operate better and create environments where people can thrive.
Ambitions
Become the most productive hospital group in the country: Deliver outstanding value for patients and taxpayers by optimising pathways, reducing unwarranted variation, and using data and innovation to maximise clinical and operational productivity.
Achieve the best staff survey results in the NHS: Create a culture where people feel proud, supported, and listened to — driving the highest response rates and the most positive experience scores across UHT.
Improve patient satisfaction through listening, adapting, and reducing waiting times -strengthen patient experience by acting on feedback, removing delays, and designing services around what matters most to patients: timely, compassionate, high‑quality care.
Ambitions for Tees Valley healthcare and landscape
As one of the largest employers in the region, a thriving trust directly boosts the local economy. By improving productivity, culture, and patient experience, we create stable employment, attract talent, and support local growth — a form of “trickle‑up” economics where strong public services lift the wider community.