Non-executive Directors at ESNEFT
Tracy Dowling, Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 9 March 2026
Term of office: Expires March 2029
Tracy Dowling Chair of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT).
Tracy began her NHS career as an allied health professional and worked as a radiographer in London hospitals before moving into management and senior leadership roles.
Tracy has more than 20 years board level experience in mental health and community services, acute NHS trusts and NHS commissioning organisations. The majority of this experience gained in the east of England. She is also Chair of Health Innovation East and is currently deputy Chair at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.
Tracy said “I am excited to be joining ESNEFT at a time when we are beginning to embrace the many opportunities outlined in the national NHS 10 year health plan. As an integrated community and acute service provider ESNEFT is well placed to deliver the improvements and innovations in care that will make such a difference for both our patients and our colleagues.”
Mark Millar, Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 1 January 2024
Term of office: Expires 1 January 2027
Deputy Chair of Board of Directors, member of Audit and Risk Committee, Charity Funds Committee and Performance and Finance Committee.
Mark has a long and distinguished career in the NHS as a chief executive and director of resources, having held a number of roles. Mark served as a non-executive director at Royal Papworth NHS Trust for seven years. He was previously elected president of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
John Humpston, Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 1 November 2021
Term of office: Expires 31 October 2027
Deputy Chair and Senior Independent Director.
Chair of Performance and Finance Committee, member of People and Organisational Development Committee.
John began his career in the NHS as a human resources director before going on to work at board level in four national charities and professional membership organisations – Trustee of Emmaus, Cambridge, Listening Volunteer, Samaritans, and Trustee Victor Batte-Lay Foundation.
Alex Duffety, Associate Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 1 January 2025
Term of office: 31 December 2026
Alex is a member of Audit and Risk Committee, People and Organisational Development Committee, Performance and Finance Committee and Quality and Patient Safety Committee.
Alex is the Director of Finance and Operations at the Royal College of Psychiatrists where she leads the teams covering College finance, governance, business development and facilities in the London and devolved nation hubs.
Qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte, in Cambridge, and subsequently holding a number of senior finance roles in the private and public sector, prior to working at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Alex was the COO of a large Multi Academy Trust in the East of England. This included delivering award-winning transformation programmes and support service improvement.
David Eagles, Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 1 December 2024
Term of office: 30 November 2027
Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee; member of the Performance and Finance Committee, Charitable Funds Committee, and the Remuneration and Nomination Committee; and Board lead for Security Management.
David is a retired external audit Partner, focusing on the public sector, with over 30 years of specialist experience covering the NHS, and local and central government. He led audits of a number of Acute and Mental Health Trusts in the East of England and London, as well as local government audits in Essex, Suffolk and London. At a national level, he was also his firm’s lead with various regulatory bodies, including the National Audit Office and NHS England, and previously with the Audit Commission, NHS Improvement and the Trust Development Authority. David is also a past Trustee of Suffolk Family Carers.
Mike Gogarty, Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 1 November 2021
Term of office: Expires 31 October 2027
Chair of Charitable Funds Committee, Member of Quality and Patient Safety Committee and of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.
Mike lives in Suffolk and before retirement spent much of his working life in director of public health roles in Essex. He started his career as a GP in Clacton and lived in Tendring for more than 30 years.
Karen Sinnott, Non-Executive Director
Appointed: Non-executive director 17 April to 30 November 2023. Non-executive director 1 December 2023.
Term of office: Expires 30 November 2026
Chair of the People and Organisational Development Committee, member of Performance & Finance Committee. Karen is an experienced executive. She has worked in Human Resources for 25 years, both nationally and internationally. She brings board experience and a significant track record of leading through change. Her experience is in the highly-regulated financial services industry.
Karen is People Director at Santander. She has strategic leadership responsibility for Transformation, HR Business Partnering, and Service Delivery Operations. She is a member of the senior leadership team and participates in several steering committees. In these groups, her role is to challenge strategic decisions. She also guides their decisions by influence and advice. She strives for continuous improvement and relishes transitioning organisations through cultural change.
Karen lives in Suffolk with her husband and daughter. She is passionate about healthcare and addressing health inequalities. She wants to use her business skills to help her local NHS trust improve health services for the community.
Karen Livingstone, Associate Non-Executive Director
Appointed: Appointed 1 November 2025
Term of office: Expires October 2027
Member of Audit and Risk Committee, Performance and Finance Committee and Quality and Patient Safety Committee.
Karen lives in South Cambridgeshire and alongside her ESNEFT Board role is the CEO of Newham Health Collaborative – a GP Federation and Community Interest Company providing primary care services to the 500,000 residents of Newham.
Karen has been a Board member in several regional bodies and is a chartered Director with the IoD and has a global health MBA (equivalent) from Yale University. Currently Karen is a Truste of North Herts Citizens Advice. A former journalist, Karen has a background in political and Trade Union leadership and edited the Anti-Apartheid Movement’s Newspaper.
Karen was Director of Partnerships for the Regional SHA and led innovation programmes for NHS England.
Passionate about inequalities and tackling social deprivation and is proud to have received awards for her work in this area.
Sarah Boulton, Non-Executive Director
Appointed: Appointed 1 November 2025
Term of office: Expires October 2028
Chair of Quality and Patient Safety Committee, member of Audit and Risk Committee, Performance and Finance Committee and People and Organisational Development Committee.
Dr Freda Bhatti, Non-Executive Director
Appointed: Appointed 1 January 2026
Term of office: Expires October 2029
Member of Audit & Risk Committee and Quality and Patient Safety Committee.
Dr Bhatti qualified from University College London Medical School in 1991 and undertook a wide range of hospital posts across London before completing her GP training in 1997.
She served as a GP Partner for 25 years, retiring from partnership in December 2024. Alongside her clinical leadership, she has held senior board and governance roles across Clinical Commissioning Groups and Integrated Care Boards, contributing to strategic oversight, population health planning, financial stewardship and service transformation. Having lived and worked in Colchester and Ipswich for over 26 years, she brings deep knowledge of local communities, health systems and partnerships, and a strong commitment to improving outcomes through integrated, patient-centred care.