NHS IMAS is made up of Partners and pool members from the NHS. They are supported by:

  • a small core team who manage the programme and assignments
  • a hand-picked selection of independent consultants who NHS organisations rate

Please note that from 1 April 2016, the Intensive Support Teams are no longer hosted by NHS IMAS.

NHS IMAS Core Team

Karen Robinson

Karen joined the team in September 2019 as the Head of System Capability and Operations (including NHS IMAS). Karen has worked for the NHS since 2014, working at a National level with Senior Executives and National Directors in NHS England and as Change and Impact Senior Programme Manager and Operating Model Lead on the Joint Working Programme for NHS England and NHS Improvement.

Prior to joining the NHS, Karen worked in local government in a variety of advisory and management roles, including change and delivery programmes, business management, human resources and event management.

Daniel Wood

Daniel is a Senior Manager and has been with the team since 2015. Before joining NHS IMAS, Daniel worked for NHS IQ as the Business Management Team Lead where he co-ordinated key business activities, including business planning, reporting and financial management. Prior to moving into National roles, Daniel worked for a Mental Health Trust providing performance management and assurance across the organisation.

Laura Davies

Laura joined the team in July 2019 as a Programme Manager. Prior to joining NHS IMAS Laura worked at the NHS Leadership Academy as Programme Lead on a national programme of work within the Inclusion team and also as a workforce Business Manager. Before starting her career within the NHS, Laura spent a number of years working in local government at Leeds City Council providing project and programme support within the PMO.

Priya Bala

Priya is one of our Programme Managers, with previous experience at NHS England, where she was Planning and Reporting Manager in the Medical Directorate. She has previously worked at the Department of Health as a Workforce Analyst.

Alison Davies

Alison is one of our Programme Managers who originally joined the team in March 2020 to support the NHS IMAS Covid-19 Flexible Resourcing project. Alison has worked for the NHS since 2019 as a Project Manager within the NHS Leadership Academy.  Before starting her career within the NHS she has worked in higher education and local government in a variety of improvement roles including programme and project management, strategy and business planning, service development, customer service and event management. Alison is also our NHS IMAS ISO lead!

Andrew Aitken

Andrew joined the team in October 2020 as a Programme Manager. Andrew has worked for the NHS since 2015, initially within the National Incident and Special Projects team, and with the Policy Development and Implementation team at NHS England. Prior to joining the NHS, Andrew worked within in the UK Visas and Immigration department at the Home Office.

Jan Pearce

Jan returned to the team permanently in November 2020 as a Programme Manager having completed a secondment in 2018 and supporting the NHS IMAS Covid-19 Flexible Resourcing project. Jan has worked for NHS England since 2013 in governance and project and programme management roles. Jan is a qualified coach and mentor. Before joining NHS England, Jan worked in a wide range of educational settings including higher and further education and as an education officer in a local education authority.

Shenel Du Bois

Shenel is one of our Programme Managers and joined the NHS IMAS team in August 2021. Shenel has worked in the NHS since 2018, but prior to this she worked as a Talent Acquisition Consultant in private sector organisations ranging across the property and finance sectors where she was responsible for designing full 360 recruitment cycles. She has designed and implemented new talent attraction and staff engagement strategies in alignment with business objectives and has previously been responsible for monitoring and auditing all regulatory compliance protocol and process within the organisations that she has supported. In her earlier career, Shenel delivered recruitment initiatives specialising in HR specific roles across all markets at mass volume.

Rachel Haigh

Rachel joined NHS IMAS in 2017 as the Team PA and has since been promoted to Project Manager. She has an eye for detail when producing Management Information and analysing data from reports in order to inform future working. Rachel has completed her PRINCE2 and Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) and is looking forward to future development opportunities to progress her career in the NHS. 

Laura Teall

Laura joined the team as Business Co-ordinator in January 2022, from the Finance Directorate in NHS England. Laura produces Management Information and performance analysis to inform future working. Laura has undertaken various roles within the NHS since 2016.

Ele Linardou

Ele joined NHS IMAS as the Team PA in February 2020 with extensive experience in both the Public and Private sectors. Ele is experienced in providing comprehensive support, customer service, co-ordination, administration and analysis, marketing and organising events.

Partners

Our Partners are experienced NHS Chief Executives and Directors with a proven track record of delivery. They, where appropriate, will dedicate time to lead the assignment and will take responsibility for managing and coaching the assignment team.

They have access to the skilled members of our pools, to powerful problem-solving tools, and also receive personal coaching and learning opportunities.

The Partners also benefit from the NHS IMAS programme by having the opportunity to use their skills to support the wider NHS. They also, where appropriate, monitor the progress of pool members who are on assignment and act as mentors to help develop talent for the future.

Pool members

Our pools consist of a variety of highly skilled professionals from across the NHS and wider professional backgrounds. NHS IMAS pool members assist NHS organisations in a variety of ways including operational, financial or strategic support.

Members of our NHS pool are highly competent individuals and functional experts who add value through specific skill sets or professional expertise. These experts include nurses, doctors, analysts, financial and operational specialists.

The pool members benefit from being able to access real work opportunities to develop their skills and exposure to broader experiences and networks. They also get training and development when on assignments by receiving personal support and coaching from our partners.

Our second pool consists of independent candidates who have left the NHS but have retained a wealth of experience.