We provide you and your community with high quality specialist health and social care services.

About us

Who we are

Our aim is to be there when you or your family or carer need us most and help you stay as independent as possible.

We look after adults and children at home and at school. Our thousands of staff work across Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, and Bath and North East Somerset.

We are very proud that our most recent Care Quality Commission rating for the care our staff provide is Outstanding. Read the latest report.

A not-for-profit social enterprise, we are funded by the NHS and local authorities. NHS care is free at the point of delivery. We are committed to serving our communities as a Community Interest Company, our activities provide benefit to all members of the population of the areas we cover.

Taking it Personally

Discover the values every member of our team hold dear and the foundations on which we provide care

our values

We are innovative in the way we deliver services to people and adopt the latest techniques in health and social care. This approach helps us to promote safe and high-quality services to meet the needs of people, their families and their carers.

Training, education and support for our staff is a crucial part of care innovation. We empower our staff to create their own ideas to make our services more responsive for the people who use them.

We work with individuals and partner organisations to make sure the care you receive is as joined-up as it can be and that everyone involved in your care knows what you need and when.

We also provide some services with partners, for example the Community Children’s Health Partnership in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.

We are involved in Healthier Together, the STP (Sustainability and Transformation Plan) in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

Our Board is responsible for the day to day running and management of Sirona’s business. It is made up of our Senior Leadership Team of Executive Directors who are full time senior staff and an independent lay Chairman and Non-Executive Directors.

The Executive Directors bring to the Board clinical, operational and commercial experience and expertise while the Chair and Non-Executive Directors bring their skills and experience from a wide variety of roles in the community and in social and commercial enterprises.

The Board is accountable to the Members* of Sirona for its management of the organisation. The role of a Members is similar to that of a shareholder in a public limited company, except a Sirona Member does not hold any financial interest. Members perform this corporate governance role by receiving regular reports about our performance and participating in Members’ meetings and in general meetings.

We judge our success by listening to the views of those using our services. The real examples of the care and support given by our staff, with skill, compassion and respect, we know are a credit to us.

Our ongoing commitment to our service users is that we will provide services as we would wish to receive them ourselves, or for those we love.

Our ongoing commitment to our staff is that we will continue to value the huge contribution they make to Sirona’s success and we will always treat them fairly and with respect.

By us all working together, we will continue to strive for excellence in all we do.

*We will be featuring a who’s who on our Members shortly. You can meet our Senior Leadership Team and Board below.

Board meeting dates, papers and how to ask a question

The Board is accountable to the Members of Sirona for its management of the Company.  The role of a Member is similar to that of a shareholder in a public limited company, save that a Member has no financial interest in the Company.  Members perform this corporate governance role by receiving regular reports on the Company’s performance and participating in Members’ meetings and in general meetings of the Company.

The overall responsibilities of members are derived from a combination of statute, common law, the Company’s Articles of Association and any additional rights agreed through a members’ agreement. These include, but are not restricted to:

  • Approving certain major transactions (e.g. property; loans)
  • Changes to the Company’s constitution;
  • Approving the appointment and re-appointment of the Company’s auditors;
  • Amending the Articles of Association
  • Ability to call a general meeting
  • Petition for a winding up order

The role of Members in governance is therefore an important one and members are appointed because they have an appropriate combination of expertise, experience and capacity to contribute to these key governance roles.

In addition to their governance responsibilities, Members also have wider responsibilities in contributing to the success of Sirona through:

  • Acting as an ambassador for the Company and championing its services
  • Being a sounding board for major strategic issues or decisions and responding to requests for comments or views
  • Being represented on the appointing panel of all Board Members
  • Monitoring and reviewing the performance of the Board especially in relation to ensuring that Sirona remains consistent to its community interest, vision, values and core offer
  • Being a ‘critical friend’ of the Company
  • Abiding by the standards of conduct

Constitution of Members

Classes of membership
% vote
No. of Members
Staff
24%
7
Service users
24%
7
Strategic partners
21%
5
Independent partners
20%
5
Director
11%
2
100%
26

Senior Leadership

Janet Rowse

Chief Executive

Janet leads the organisation and ensures she spends time each week talking to staff or going to visit services to help her know how it feels to be working in Sirona or receiving care from Sirona. She has been our Chief Executive since Sirona was founded.

She also spends time working with other Chief Executives and Directors from other provider and commissioning organisations across the region.

Janet lives in Mendip and has family across the South West.

Clive Bassett

Finance Director

Clive joined Sirona in December 2019 as Finance Director. Clive has been a Finance Director for 17 years - both in permanent and interim roles, in a variety of sectors. For the last nine years, Clive has been a Trustee at Prospect Hospice in Swindon, where he has also held the roles of Deputy Chair and Chair of the Finance and Income Generation Committee.

Clive is a Chartered Accountant, recently completing the ICAEW Non-Executive Director Certificate. In his spare time Clive likes get out and enjoy the Cotswolds - whether it be on foot, or on his vintage bike.

Jenny Theed

Director of Operations

Jenny, who has also been with Sirona since it was founded in 2011, describes her role as a privilege as she is able to get involved or oversee the delivery of a range of services and innovative developments.

Jenny brings a wealth of clinical experience having trained as a Nurse and as a Health Visitor.

Julie Sharma

Director of Transformation

Julie has been working in health and social care for 40 years and is at the heart of supporting change in current services and bidding for new business.

Her team works behind-the-scenes yet closely with front line services. She can be working with colleagues exploring new models of service and visioning for the future one day, and drafting a submission to demonstrate how Sirona can add value to local services in other areas the next.

She is passionate about Sirona's commitment to ensuring that we look after each of our staff and service users in a way that we would want to be looked after ourselves or for our families.

Mike Richards, Director of Therapies and Allied Health Professionals

Mike Richards

Director of Therapies and Allied Health Professionals

Mike joined Sirona in April 2020 from Weston Area Health NHS Trust where he was Associate Director of Professionals. With a clinical background as a Speech and Language Therapist, Mike has worked at Weston since 2011 and, since moving to Bristol in 2005, he has had experience working in and with a number of organisations across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Kate Rush, Medical Director

Dr Kate Rush

Medical Director

Kate joined Sirona in February 2020 from Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group where she was Associate Medical Director.
While at the CCG she was also the Clinical Lead for End of Life Care, Homelessness and High Impact Users.
Kate is also leading the development of Clinical Leadership within the CCG. Kate trained at the University of Bristol and since then has worked in a number of local acute and primary care settings before becoming a GP partner first in Fishponds and then in Easton. Kate is Sirona’s Caldicott Guardian.

Dr Roy Sharma is our Responsible Officer.

Sarah Margetts

HR Director

Sarah was appointed HR Director in the summer of 2018. She joined Sirona as Head of HR in 2015 having previously led HR teams in a number of different organisations including the charity and not-for-profit sector, as well as education and social care.

She has worked in HR for more than 20 years, and initially started her career as an apprentice working in a Local Authority, later becoming a full chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Mary Lewis, Director of Nursing

Mary Lewis

Director of Nursing

Mary joined Sirona in April 2020 as our Director of Nursing from North Somerset Community Partnership (NSCP) where she was Director of Nursing and Therapies.

Mary set up and holds the position of Trustee on the Lifetime Children’s Trust, worked as an Executive Nurse with the Bath and North East Somerset Primary Care Trust and held the Deputy Director of Nursing role at the Royal United Hospital in Bath before joining NSCP in 2016.

Linda Frankland

Deputy Director of Finance

Linda is a qualified accountant and is passionate about ensuring that finance is seen as a key enabler for the organisation to achieve high quality and effective service provision.

Linda manages Sirona's Finance and Payroll teams.

Non-Executive Directors

Simon Knighton

Chairman

Simon has chaired Sirona since its foundation in 2011 and brings a wealth of experience from industry and from working in a number of socially based businesses, including as Chief Executive of the NHS Expert Patients Programme.

Simon is passionate about the provision of high quality health and social care services for all in our communities and takes a particular interest in promoting healthy lifestyles and wellbeing. He is a keen climber and mountaineer himself, having reached 7800m on the challenging Everest north ridge, and has twice sailed the Atlantic.

Simon is married with four children and lives in Wiltshire.

David Purdon

Chair of Audit Committee

David joined Sirona in 2011 and is the Chair of the Audit Committee.

During his career he has worked in many aspects of finance and became the Finance Director, and then Managing Director, of Wilts Wholesale Electrical Co Limited in 1988 the largest independent electrical wholesaler in the UK. David stepped down as Managing Director in December 2010, but remains on the Wilts Board as a non- executive director.

David has lived in Bathampton since 1988 and is married with three children. He is Chair of the Bath Foodbank charity, which provides emergency food for Bath families in crisis.

Paul May

Non-Executive Director

Paul joined Sirona in August 2015 as he believed the opportunity for front line staff to work together for the benefit of our community was so crucial to more joined up care that he wanted to be part of making that happen. Paul is also a councillor with Bath & North East Somerset Council serving Publow and Whitchurch ward.

He has around 50 years of public sector experience including non-executive directorships with health organisations and believes the staff are our most valuable asset.

Amanda Cheesley

Non-Executive Director

Amanda Cheesley joined Sirona at the end of 2017. She is a qualified nurse who is the UK professional lead for End of Life Care and Long Term Conditions at the Royal College of Nursing.

She has worked at Guy's Hospital in London, as a member of the Mountain Rescue Team in the Lake District and as the Matron for the Eskdale Centre.

Amanda has also worked in Bristol and South Gloucestershire in various roles including being a district nurse and Service Manager of Intermediate Care in South Gloucestershire.

In 2015 she took part in the Clipper Round the World Sailing Race raising money for Breast Cancer describing it as an experience that fluctuated between complete terror, exhaustion and exhilaration!

She was drawn to the role at Sirona as she shares the values and ambitions of involving people including staff in developing and improving care but also because she wanted to give something back to her community.

Simon MacSorley, Non-Executive Director

Simon MacSorley

Non-Executive Director

Simon joined Sirona in April 2020. His professional background is in Estates Management and he has worked at executive level in the healthcare, education and charity sectors as well as holding other non-executive Director roles.

He is also Chair of a charity which provides investment funding to improve the quality of care services for older people and he is Vice-Chair of a multi-academy trust managing seven schools in South Gloucestershire.

He wanted to join Sirona as he is committed to improving healthcare services - particularly in his own community area. He is married with two children and lives in Downend, Bristol.

Lorna Harrison Non Executive Director

Lorna Harrison

Non-Executive Director

Lorna joined Sirona in October 2020 and is Chair of the Audit and Assurance Committee.

Prior to joining Sirona Lorna held a similar role within North Somerset Community Partnership and was a Non Executive on a housing association.

During her career Lorna held Director positions with Wrigley / Mars Confectionary company and worked in the UK , Germany and USA, where she held Finance, logistic and Procurement roles.

Lorna now lives in North Somerset and is passionate about working within the local community to support a healthier and fairer environment.
Lorna is married and has two grown up children.

Nura Aabe

Associate Non-Executive Director

Nura Aabe has built on her personal experience of having a child with autism to founding and helping to run the community organisation called Autism Independence. The organisation supports marginalised families affected with autism.
She has been pioneering raising awareness of autism in the Somali community.
Nura is currently a PhD student at the University of Bristol and a TEDx speaker. She is also currently writing two different chapters for autism related books.
Nura is also a lived experience consultant and a researcher.