About Us

Ms Sarah-Jane Mills - Chief Executive

Sarah-Jane qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1987 and moved from Liverpool, where she trained, to take up her first post at Springfield Hospital in South London. The focus of her clinical practise was in Psychiatry and she worked in various acute mental health & secure units across London. She moved into General Management in 1995 initially as a Business Manager for the Forensic Directorate of a Mental Health Trust and then as Clinical Governance Project Manager in an Acute Trust. In 2001 she was appointed as a Director of a London based Mental Health NHS Trust where she led a £12 million project to increase the number of medium secure in-patient beds. In 2004 with her husband and two daughters she relocated to Lincolnshire and took up the post as Director of Louth Hospital.

In April 2006 she was appointed as the first Chief Executive of St Barnabas Hospice Trust (Lincolnshire) and since that time has led the development of specialist palliative care services delivered by the Hospice and working closely with partners from the health community to develop palliative and end of life care.

Dr Andy Kutarski - Medical Director

Andy graduated from St Mary's Hospital Medical School in London in 1976. He entered Anaesthesia and Intensive Care as a specialty in 1978 via trainee posts at Treliske Hospital in Truro, Cornwall and then at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Glasgow Royal Infirmary. On taking up a consultant post in Perth, Scotland in 1985, he developed his interest in pain relief and established a local service in the subspecialty.

A move south in 1998 to Lincoln County Hospital allowed this interest to develop further. Contact with St Barnabas saw the accent in his work move completely away from anaesthesia and intensive care, and he eventually became a full time "pain doctor". Initially he split his roles between the NHS and St Barnabas Hospice, but finally went completely "NHS-free" and became the full time Medical Director of the Hospice in 2003.

In 2009 he was invited back into the fold of the NHS by Lincolnshire PCT, and now works for that organisation in a commissioning role for End of Life and Palliative Care as well as retaining his other commitments. He is also an examiner for Leicester Undergraduate Medical School and he has recently qualified to teach advanced communication skills to senior NHS staff as part of a national programme. Fortunately, he enjoys being busy!

Miss Sally Cheetham - Head of Finance & Performance

Sally is a qualified accountant and has worked for St Barnabas since the end of 2007. After spending 14 years working for a FTSE 100 company involving several moves around the country and many different finance roles, Sally took voluntary redundancy to move to Lincolnshire to be with her fiancé. She wanted to put her accountancy training and commercial skills to good use in a charity and was particularly pleased to be offered a role in St Barnabas.

Sally loves numbers, but also enjoys the cinema, eating out, badminton and walking.

Mr Neil Paulger - Director of Business Development

Neil left school at the age of 16 and spent 35 years with the local Wright Construction Group. Starting out as a joiner he was promoted through the ranks to become Group Managing Director, overseeing six companies with a turnover in excess of £18million and some of the parent company's most notable contracts including the City's Magistrate Courthouse built at a cost of £3.6 million in 1986.

Despite surviving the recession of the nineties, Neil started to look around for a different challenge. He resigned his post in June 1999 and took three months out to decide his future. Spotting an advertisement in the local paper he applied for the vacancy of fundraising manager at the hospice. Successful in his application he started on 20 September 1999.

Following five successful years of fundraising he was promoted in January 2005 to an all new post as Director of Fundraising, responsible for the trust's commercial activities.

As an exec team member, Neil considers his decision to leave construction as one of the best he has ever made.

Mrs Jane Bake - Director of Patient Care

Jane qualified in 1983 from the University of Hull, and undertook the ENB 237 oncology course at the Christie Hospital in Manchester. Joining the Royal Air Force she worked in oncology, setting up the first military chemotherapy service in Germany. Whilst in Germany with the RAF she also had a short tour to Cyprus to work as part of the aeromedical team in the first Gulf war.

After leaving the RAF, Jane worked at the Cancer Centre in Cheltenham commencing the Dip HE Palliative Care at Sir Michael Sobell House, Oxford. Moving to the Sue Ryder Palliative Care Centre in Oxfordshire as Clinical Nurse Teacher she became co-leader of a large complementary therapies research project and completed her palliative care studies.

Jane moved back to Lincolnshire, her home county, in 2001 and has worked at St Barnabas Lincolnshire Hospice since January 2002, first in the role of Deputy Director of Patient Care and latterly as Director. She has lead work around lymphoedema and is currently leading on the palliative care element of the Carers Strategy for Lincolnshire.

She is married with two teenage boys and her main hobbies are reading and shopping.

Mr Robert Neilans - Chairman

Robert was born in Northern Ireland. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1959, leaving in 1981. Following this he studied Certified Accountancy at Sheffield Polytechnic for three years.

Robert subsequently joined the NHS as an accountant and in a career stretching from 1984 through to 2007 was employed in a variety of roles culminating as a Chief Executive of a PCG.

Robert has been interested and involved in developing palliative care in the county from 1997. He was invited to become a trustee of St Barnabas in 2007 and subsequently elected as Chairman in the same year.

Mr David Carmichael

David is an arable farmer to the South of Lincoln and has worked on various government bodies associated with food, farming and environment. He was awarded the MBE in 2005 for services to agricultural research.

He was the first Chairman of Lincoln County Hospital and is currently a Board member of the Lace Housing Association.

He was appointed to the Board of Trustees in January 2000.

Mr Paul Pumfrey - Trustee

Paul was born in Lincolnshire and is married with three children and seven grandchildren.

Paul has had a varied career which is detailed below:

• College of Estate management, London University, Chartered Surveyor
• Chairman & Managing Director, Bernard Pumfrey Construction Group 1968 – 1985
• Lincoln Cathedral – lay member of Chapter 1992-8
• Lay canon 2000-4 Dunham Bridge Company – Director
• English speaking Union Lincolnshire Branch Chairman 1995 – 2003
• Appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Lincolnshire from 1993
• High Sheriff for Lincolnshire 2003 – 2004
• Awarded OBE for services to the community 1988 – 1990
• Chairman Lincolnshire Family Health Services Authority 1990 – 1996
• Non-Executive Director Trent Regional Health Authority 1994 – 1996

Outside of work, his interests include golf, travel, theatre, classical music, opera and photography.

Paul was Chairman of Appeal for new Hospice on Nettleham Road 1988 – 1989. He was made a Trustee in 2000, and since that time has also been a member of the Resources Committee and Director of Shops Company. In additional to these roles, Paul became Chairman of the Shops Company in 2003.

Mr Tom Murray - Trustee

Tom is married to Clare with two sons and three grandchildren.

Tom was educated in Scotland and joined the Lucas Group in London in 1963 as a management trainee. He trained as a Management Accountant and spent a further 16 years with Lucas in middle and senior management posts in four geographical locations. His final four years with the Lucas Group was spent managing 450 staff at the Lucas Service Accounting and IT Centre in Sheffield.

In 1980 Tom was appointed Financial Director of Godfrey Holmes Ltd in Lincoln. In 1984 he was appointed Managing Director of JG Woodthorpe in Boston. From 1988 onwards he developed, bought and sold various businesses. The Murray family now own an Automotive Distribution Company and a Commercial Property Company. During this time, Tom was Chairman of Bosch Distributors (UK) from 1984-1987.

Outside of work, Tom has been involved in the Scout movement both when living in Sheffield and on moving to Lincoln when his children were of school age. In addition to this, he is a local church accountant and Treasurer of the Lincoln Catenian Association. His other interests include reading, travel, history, art and his wife is a golf widow! He is Hononary Treasurer and Company Secretary and is also Chairman of the Resources Committee, Chairman and Director of the Promotions Company and Director of the Shops Company.

Mr Graham Hale - Trustee

Graham was born in Liverpool and qualified in medicine in Liverpool in 1968. For seven years he was a Senior Research Fellow/Lecturer in Physiology and obtained a PhD in 1974 in neurophysiology. He then trained in ophthalmology at Liverpool and Sheffield Eye Hospitals and became a consultant ophthalmic surgeon in Lincoln in 1983. He initially concentrated on anterior segment and squint surgery and subsequently became Clinical Lead in Ophthalmology responsible for the redesign of the Lincolnshire Eye Services.

He was appointed Clinical Director of Head & Neck cross county in 1998 and has been Medical Director at Lincoln County Hospital from 2003 until the present date.

He brings 38 years of NHS experience in general practice, hospital medicine and finally ophthalmology. He also has considerable experience in clinical management with a particular interest in clinical governance and clinical staffing matters. He is also a Trustee of the Bromhead Medical Charity.

He has had personal experience of St Barnabas as his first wife Pamela died in St Barnabas eight years ago. He has two daughters aged 31 and 29, both working in Lincoln. He subsequently remarried four years ago to Barbara.

When not working his hobbies are gardening, bee keeping, fishing and foreign travel.

Mr John Marsden - Trustee

John is 58 years old, married to Veronica and lives in the village of Heighington, Lincoln. He has worked in London, Hampshire, Cheshire and Lincolnshire for the National Health Service for 38 years and retired in 2001. His main interests are in corporate governance, human resources and health service economics.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees, Resource Management Group and Chairman of Pay and Conditions Group. He is also a Trustee of the Pelican Trust, which is a Charity for people with mental health problems and learning disabilities.

His hobbies and interests include travel, reading, playing golf (badly) and keeping fit by attending the gym at least twice a week.

Mr Phillip Hoskins

Phillip is leader of the Employment and Dispute Resolution Team at Andrew & Co LLP. He deals with employment work, general commercial work and corporate transactions. He has specialised in particular in employment and general commercial work for over thirty years and aims to use his experience and knowledge to assist clients in achieving their goals and finding sensible commercial solutions to the issues and challenges which they face.

He is well known in the local business community and regularly speaks at meetings and seminars. As well as a trustee of St Barnabas Hospice, he is legal adviser to the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln and a director of LawNet Ltd.

In his leisure time Phillip plays golf, skis (water and snow), watches rugby and cricket and has a keen interest in politics.

Mr Keith Darwin - Trustee

Keith was born in Gainsborough and educated at the local Queen Elizabeth Grammar School before studying for a BA (Hons) degree in Politics and Economics at the University of York.

He started work with the Plymouth Co-operative Society in 1966, before moving to the Lincoln Co-operative Society in 1973 – going on to become the Deputy Chief Executive in 1977 and the Chief Executive in 1992, a post he held for eleven years.

He is also currently the Chairman of Investors in Lincoln and the Lincolnshire Economic Action Partnership, a non-executive director at United Lincolnshire NHS Hospitals and a Governor of the University of Lincoln.

He has been a Justice of the Peace since 1991 and is the Deputy Chair of People First International. Furthermore he was awarded the OBE in 2000 and became an Honorary Doctor of Law in the same year.

Mrs Sue Glaister - Trustee

Sue has been a trustee since 2002. Sue, a Registered General Nurse, has worked in the NHS since 1974. For the last 10 years she has worked in senior managerial positions in the NHS across Lincolnshire based in Lincoln and Boston hospitals. At present she is Deputy Chief Nurse at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Sue has always had an interest in palliative care and undertook a palliative care course at Strathcarron Hospice in Stirlingshire during the time she worked in Scotland.

Originally from Merseyside, she has lived in Lincolnshire for 21 years and feels very settled in the county. Her hobbies include travel, gardening, reading and supporting village life.

Richard Davies - Trustee

Runs a local IT company near Grantham.

County Councillor for Grantham North West.

Previously a member of the GIFTS Hospice board.

Jacky Smith

Jacqueline known as Jacky was born in Hampshire came to Grantham in 1946. Attended Kesteven and Grantham Girls Grammar School and went on to study Mechanical and Marine Engineering. After qualifying worked in and London area for Hewlett Packard and Computer Design Corporation specialising in the design, development and use of “desk top” computers mainly in mechanical engineering. While working in the USA studied marketing and in the late 1970’s was invited to become a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing in recognition of work internationally.

Set up her own consultancy business aged just 28 years old working mainly in the application of the new electronic technology in offshore oil and gas exploration industries in Eastern Europe, United Kingdom and USA.

Jacky returned to England in 1980 and married Ian in 1982, also a mechanical engineer and water supply engineer. Their honeymoon was spent working in China!

After marriage Jacky remained in Grantham working with small and medium sized businesses giving management and marketing consultancy. I was eventually invited to become a Fellow of the Institute of Business Advisors which later became the Institute of Business Consultants in recognition of work both nationally and internationally developing small and medium sized businesses.

Recently work has involved running a business and conference centre in Grantham and a Board Member of Property Development companies.

Jacky has been involved with GIFTS Hospice for several years and due to many family members and friends suffering from cancer has seen at first hand just what the Hospice.

Movement means to sufferers and carers and is delighted at being invited to join St Barnabas Board of Trustees.

Jacky acquired a family on marriage and is now a proud great grandmother!

Hobbies include old cars, rallying, gardening, music, travelling (mainly in France) and wine all of which with the exception of gardening she enjoys with her husband.

Noel Baumber

Noel Baumber's involvement with palliative care and helping the housebound (with delivery services and medicines dosage trays from the pharmacy) are both the synergistic product of his 35-year marriage to Dr Jill Baumber, whom he met in 1972 when she was Dr Jill Lester, living in Saxilby and working in a country practice with Dr Arthur Maiden and Dr Ridley McPhail. Noel had come back to Lincoln to buy John Giles pharmacy in Newark Road and heard about her from a medical representative. He knocked on her door to ask her if she would like to be his partner at a Junior Chamber of Commerce dinner dance, and discovered a wonderful woman.

As a doctor and a pharmacist they worked well together, and were fortunate in having so many charitable and like-minded people to make things happen when they wanted to start GIFTS Hospice in 1990. At one point in the 1980s they were busy with two pharmacies, two surgeries and two young children, but nowadays, the heavy requirements of capital and governance in the Information Age make it almost impossible to start a charity or business from scratch. This is why it is so important to cherish and develop what we have in St Barnabas as the Lincolnshire Hospice that covers all of the county. Jill retired from practice in 1996 and died suddenly in April 2008.