Atiha Chaudry is the Lay Member for Public and Patient which includes chairing the Patient and Public Advisory Group that reports to the MHCC board. She is also a member of several MHCC committees and working groups to represent the interests of patients and public.

She is a resident of Manchester and has lived and worked in the City for over twenty five years. She has been involved in community development for a significant period and continues to actively support the voluntary and community sector. Her time is divided between her paid work which spans across research and consultancy and in her various roles in the community which include being a Trustee for the Greater Manchester Council for Voluntary Organisations, chair of the GM BME Network and Associate for the Manchester BME Network. She is also a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater Manchester.

Atiha is passionate about the involvement and engagement of patients in the provision of high quality health and care services. She is committed to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion in the design and delivery of services. It’s important that an independent perspective is brought in to ensure that the views of patients and citizens are heard at all levels and services truly reflect the needs of local people.

She lives in Levenshulme with her family.

Chris Jeffries is the lay member for finance and audit, which includes chairing these committees. His role is to give professional oversight as a lay member and as a qualified accountant of finance and audit issues in the organisation.  Chris retired from the NHS after 30 years, including 25 at director level. He is finance trustee for MCR HOME, finance director of Stockport Plaza Theatre Trust and a trustee for Carers Trust Greater Manchester. He is also a listening Samaritan volunteer, and the North West lead for Samaritan partnerships.

Chris is married with three grown up children and lives in Cheadle Hulme. Outside of his voluntary activities, Chris does lots of hill walking and tennis and has a wide range of interests including film, theatre, art, architecture and philosophy.

Chris is a Registered General Nurse and District Nurse with experience in a variety of clinical settings and has worked in acute hospitals, community and primary care throughout her NHS career. She has held management positions as well as roles within education and professional development. She is currently employed as Chief Nurse at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, where she provides professional leadership to employed nurses, midwives and Allied Health Professionals and has executive lead for a number of areas.

She has a passion for ensuring that care delivered is of high quality and is harm free and those patients and their families are at the centre of that care.

As a former Florence Nightingale Leadership Scholar she has had the opportunity to explore safe nursing and midwifery staffing both nationally and internationally.

Chris lives in North Manchester and has two grown up children. In her spare time she enjoys running, yoga and pilates.

Director of Adult Social Services, MCC

Bernie has been working in social care for over 30 years, beginning her social work career in Hope Hospital, Salford in 1984, from where she went on to work within a wide range of service areas.

In 2016, she took on the role of Director of Social Care and transferred, along with 440 adult social care staff, from Salford City Council into an Integrated Care Organisation hosted by Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust.

In 2018 she moved to Manchester as Director of Adult Services in Manchester Local Care Organisation (MLCO), joining them on the exciting journey of integrating health and social care.

Bernie has always had a person-centred, asset based, approach which keeps people at the heart of everything we do. She firmly believes that working collaboratively, thinking differently and – most importantly – developing and supporting staff, will enable us to make improvements to the health and wellbeing of citizens, supporting them to have better outcomes in their lives.

Bernie is now the Executive Director of Adult Social Services. She is employed by Manchester City Council, sits on the senior management team in the Council, and is deployed into MLCO. Bernie also represents Adult Social Care in MHCC.

Bernie was born in Rusholme and is a proud Mancunian. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, swimming, and spending time with her friends and family.

Joanne, who joined the Council in April 2017, started in local government as an apprentice aged 16 and has worked her way to the top, with a strong track record in transforming public services and delivering major regeneration initiatives. She joined Manchester City Council from Wakefield Council where she had been chief executive since 2008.

Councillor Gary Bridges is Manchester City Councillor for Old Moat and the executive member for children and schools.