Leadership that opens doors

Salma Yasmeen is an established senior NHS leader, equality advocate and Chief Executive of Sheffield Health & Social Care NHS Foundation Trust, a mental health, learning disability and community trust in Sheffield. She took up the role in July 2023, bringing almost three decades of experience across health and care in the UK and internationally.

A registered mental health nurse, Salma has built her career around transforming services, shaping inclusive cultures, developing people and tackling health inequalities. Before becoming Chief Executive, she was Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Strategy and Change at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Earlier in her career, she was Director of Nursing and Transformation at a large medical city in the Middle East.

Salma also co-founded and led an award-winning mental health charity, pioneering culturally responsive approaches with ethnically diverse communities. Her leadership is rooted in ensuring that people’s voices, cultures and lived experiences shape health and care.

She is Chair of the NHS Alliance Health and Care Women Leaders Network Guiding Group and serves on the NHS England Equality and Diversity Council. Her leadership has been recognised through a number of national and international awards and accolades.

As Patron, Salma is passionate about celebrating achievement, championing inclusive leadership and creating opportunities for the next generation of diverse leaders across health and care.

Nadra Ahmed CBE is Executive Co-Chairman of the National Care Association and former Chair of the Care Provider Alliance. With over 45 years’ experience in social care, she has led and developed care services since 1981 and has chaired the National Care Association since 2001.

Recognised as one of the sector’s most influential voices, Nadra has served on numerous government taskforces, advised parliamentarians and represented social care through major national challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic. She has held leadership and trustee roles across a range of organisations, including Skills for Care, Parkinson’s UK and SCIE.

A Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Kent, Kent Ambassador and former High Sheriff of Kent (2023/24), Nadra was awarded an OBE in 2006 and a CBE in 2023 for services to social care.

A regular speaker, commentator and advocate for the sector, Nadra champions independent care providers at both national and international level.

Dr Toli Onon joined the Care Quality Commission in September 2025 as Chief Inspector of Hospitals (Secondary & Specialist Care), having previously been a Joint Chief Medical Officer and Responsible Officer in the NHS.

During her clinical training, she undertook research in cancer immunology in Manchester before being appointed as a Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist in 2003.

She continues to provide a regular clinical session as a Consultant Gynaecologist, finding inspiration and fulfilment in the delivery of healthcare as well as its regulation.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul is a GP partner who has worked in his practice in North London for over three decades. He has dedicated his professional life to representing and supporting doctors.

He is past Chair of the BMA General Practitioners Committee and was the first Black and minority ethnic Chair of BMA Council from 2017 to 2022. As BMA Chair, he led the medical profession through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has long advocated for racial equality in medicine and led the BMA’s seminal Racism in Medicine project in 2022. He is Chair of the BMA Forum for Racial and Ethnic Equality and a board member of the NHS Race and Health Observatory.

He is Co-Chair of the charity Doctors in Distress, which promotes and supports the mental health of healthcare professionals and works to prevent self-harm and suicide. He is also a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners Council and a Visiting Professor at Aston University.

Dr Nagpaul has been awarded a CBE for services to primary care, a Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners and an Honorary Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health.

Professor Mala Rao CBE is Director of the Ethnicity and Health Section in the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Imperial College London, Clinical Adviser on IMG Induction to the General Medical Council and former Medical Adviser to NHS England’s Workforce Race Equality Strategy.

Her career has spanned public health practice, policy and research in the UK and globally. Her most significant achievements have been in workforce development, health systems strengthening and planetary health. Her work has improved the lives of millions, particularly in some of the most deprived communities in the UK and South East Asia.

The focus of her current work is addressing health inequalities and the health impacts of the climate crisis. A long-standing champion of race equality, Mala has been a key contributor to NHS England’s Race Equality Strategy since its launch in 2014.

Her contributions include serving as Vice Chair of the NHS England Workforce Race Equality Strategy Group, co-founding the NHS Race and Health Observatory, leading the development of the 2020 Medical Workforce Race Equality Standard and its 2025 Five Years On Report, and helping develop the comprehensive NHS induction guide for international medical graduates.

Margaret Ikpoh is the Royal College of General Practitioners Vice President for Professional Development and Training Standards. A leading researcher and GP Trainer, she has previously served as a research champion for First5 GPs and Associates in Training with the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber.

She is the National Institute for Health and Care Research Settings Lead for Primary Care, a Trustee of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management, and former Associate Director for Primary Care at Hull York Medical School.

Margaret is the former Co-Chair of the regional Primary Care Workforce Group with NHS England and NHS Improvement for the North East and Yorkshire Regional People Board, where she remains an active member. In 2021, she was voted Fellow of the Year at the RCGP Inspire Awards, and in 2022 was named among the HSJ’s 50 most influential Black, Asian and minority ethnic figures in health.

In 2024, she received the Caribbean and African Health Network Special Recognition Award for Leadership in Primary Care and was appointed a Trustee of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management. In 2025, she became a Patron of both the Caribbean & African Black Healthcare Awards and the National BAME Health and Care Awards, recognising her leadership, advocacy and commitment to communities that have long been marginalised or overlooked.

In 2025, Margaret was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire, supporting the Lord-Lieutenant in representing the Crown and strengthening relationships across organisations and communities. In 2026, she was shortlisted as a finalist for two RCGP Inspire Awards.

Dr Dame Crystal Oldman has a nursing career spanning more than 45 years. As a Health Visitor, she served disadvantaged communities in west London, including families with young children living in temporary accommodation. This experience shaped her longstanding interest in the social determinants of health and the critical role of community nurses in addressing health inequalities.

Crystal also enjoyed an 18-year academic career, completing her time in higher education as a Dean. In this role, she developed partnerships with a range of public services to support workforce development and research, including a multiprofessional MSc in Inclusion Health.

In 2012, Crystal joined the Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing as Chief Executive. Her commitment to evidence-based practice, policy, innovation and the development of highly skilled nursing leaders guided the creation of the Institute’s acclaimed portfolio of programmes and networks. These included the Inclusion Health Nursing programme and the first field-specific standards supporting the Specialist Practitioner Qualification for Inclusion Health Nurses.

She was awarded a CBE in 2017 for services to community nursing and her leadership of the Institute, a Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing in 2020, and the Gold Badge of the Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing in 2023.

In 2025, Crystal moved from full-time employment to use her expertise in support of health and nursing charities and not-for-profit organisations as a Trustee. She was awarded a Damehood in the King’s Birthday Honours in June 2026 in recognition of her contribution to the nursing profession.