Meet the team
Your local team serving Healthwatch in Cheshire East. Our team work a variety of hours to fit different patterns of working, ranging from 4 hours per week through to full-time.
Team
Louise Barry - Chief Executive Officer
Louise is the Chief Executive Officer of Healthwatch Cheshire West and Healthwatch Cheshire East.
Mark Groves - Service Lead
Email: mark.groves@healthwatchcheshire.org.uk
Mark joined Healthwatch Cheshire as Service Lead in October 2018. His main responsibilities are managing and supporting the Engagement and Enter and View team, being Healthwatch Cheshire's Data Protection Officer, as well as supporting the CEO.
Mark has over 25 years management experience with local authorities. He has developed and managed several projects, and also been the local manager of a national charity with a wealth of volunteer management experience.
Emma McKenzie - Administration and Finance Manager
Email: emma.mckenzie@healthwatchcheshire.org.uk
Emma has a breadth of experience having previously worked as Senior Administrator for both Cheshire West and Cheshire East LINk.
Emma has a strong and varied background in business administration and has worked for a number of companies in our local area.
At the ‘hub’ of our organisation, Emma ensures our office runs smoothly and efficiently with smiles.
Laura Coles - ICAS Advocate
Email: info@icascheshire.org.uk
Laura joined Healthwatch in late 2024 and has a strong background in advocacy having worked for Disability Positive for over 5 years in statutory and general Advocacy. Laura has a wealth of knowledge in legal and social services to support people to get the most up to date care and support they need.
Advocacy supports hundreds of people to help express their views and stand up for their own rights. The Healthwatch ICAS service is an independent service that supports you to make NHS complaints. Our role is to help you build confidence to make a complaint or/and prepare for meetings in regard to the treatment you have received. We have a list of contacts for complaints procedures within the ICB and CQC. At advocacy we understand how hard it is when people do not listen to you and how frustrating it can be when in an emotional situation you feel your views are not being taken seriously. We are here to support you through the process and signpost to the correct services.
Samantha Edwards - ICAS Advocate
Email: info@icascheshire.org.uk
Samantha joined Healthwatch Cheshire CIC in 2025 as an NHS Complaints Advocate. Having spent her entire career in the NHS as a registered nurse across a variety of settings and roles until her retirement in early 2025, she brings a wealth of experience and insight into local healthcare services.
She is passionate about improvement and committed to helping people feel confident and empowered when sharing feedback about their NHS healthcare experiences. Her background and knowledge add real value to the Healthwatch team, ensuring residents receive the support they need to make their voices heard.
Outside of work, Samantha lives in what she considers the friendliest village in Cheshire. She is an active member of the local running group and ladies’ cricket team, as well as a keen gardener.
Dhruv Wadhwa - Insight, Intelligence and Communications Officer
Email: dhruv.wadhwa@healthwatchcheshire.org.uk
Dhruv joined Healthwatch Cheshire in September 2024, bringing a unique blend of analytical skills and community-focused research experience to the team. With a Master's degree in Politics, Governance and Development Policy from the University of Manchester, He is passionate about translating data into actionable insights that can improve health and social care services.
His international fieldwork across diverse communities in Asia and Africa has given him a nuanced understanding of how local contexts shape health and social care needs. This experience taught him the importance of culturally sensitive research methods and the value of grassroots perspectives in policy formation. Whether conducting surveys in remote villages or presenting findings to government officials, he developed a knack for bridging the gap between community voices and decision-makers.
As Healthwatch Cheshire's Insight, Intelligence and Communications Officer, Dhruv is responsible for designing and implementing research projects across all aspects of health, care, and well-being. His work involves producing a wide range of written materials, from detailed reports to engaging website articles and social media content, all aimed at effectively communicating the voices and experiences of Cheshire residents to key stakeholders in the health and care system.
Amanda Sproson - Volunteer Coordinator and Engagement Officer
Email: amanda.sproson@healthwatchcheshire.org.uk
Amanda joined Healthwatch Cheshire in June 2022 as Volunteer Coordinator and Engagement Officer. Having over 15 years’ experience within the charity sector she is well versed with engaging closely with local communities and has managed and worked with strong volunteering teams.
She is keen to use her insight and skills to increase volunteer numbers with Healthwatch Cheshire East and Healthwatch Cheshire West, and works to promote the volunteering opportunities available across Cheshire, whether in community engagement, Enter & View or our Citizens’ Focus Panel. She also supports those many volunteers who give their time to Healthwatch work.
Amanda loves listening to people’s stories, which she puts to good use when engaging with the community, and is passionate about making positive changes to future health, care and wellbeing services.
Esraa Jaser - Community Engagement & Project Officer
Email: esraa.jaser@healthwatchcheshire.org.uk
Esraa joined Healthwatch Cheshire as a Community Engagement and Project Officer in June 2022.
With a Masters Degree and strong passion for Public Health, Esraa is a qualified medical professional with experience of providing care in various different countries such as Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. She has extensive experience of delivering primary health care within the community by providing guidance on all areas of women’s health, diabetes, obesity, and working on a breast cancer prevention programme in rural communities, holding educational community lectures to raise health awareness for all health issues.
She has supported large scale vaccination programmes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as a Steward Volunteer on the NHS COVID- 19 vaccination programme and with the Royal Voluntary Service as a certified vaccinator with St John’s Ambulance services. Esraa also has experience in local outbreak response to infectious diseases such as Measles, MERS-CoV, and Chickenpox.
Jem Davies - Community Engagement & Project Officer
Email: jem.davies@healthwatchcheshire.org.uk
Jem has been with Healthwatch Cheshire since September 2017 as a Community Engagement and Project Officer. This involves talking to people from all communities to ensure their views are heard, Enter and View activity, undertaking projects and report writing. Prior to joining Healthwatch Jem was a Police Officer working to build Safer Neighbourhoods.
Jodie Hamilton - Community Engagement & Project Officer
Email: jodie.hamilton@healthwatchcheshire.org.uk
Jodie joined the Healthwatch team in May 2023 and has a background as an activities coordinator. She has a keen interest in adult well-being and loves to be active. You can often find her on the netball pitch or in the gym. Jodie's previous volunteering with Age UK fueled her interest in working with people. She loves engaging with people and has settled into her role as an engagement and project officer. Jodie really enjoys the Enter and View work that Healthwatch carries out and has a real passion for this area of work.
Tricia Cooper - Community Engagement & Project Officer
Email: tricia.cooper@healthwatchcheshire.org.uk
Tricia joined Healthwatch Cheshire in May 2023 after working for a Chester based charity as their Community Energiser on the BBO New Leaf programme. She has experience of engaging with the community and individuals, particularly those who may be facing barriers. Her energiser role involved talking and listening to different people from various backgrounds.
Tricia enjoys interacting with and supporting local people, and being actively part of the process to improve health and care services in Cheshire.
Lex Stockton - Community Engagement & Project Officer
Email: lex.stockton@healthwatchcheshire.org.uk
Lex is the newest member of the Healthwatch Cheshire team, having joined in April 2025. She brings with her a range of experience of engaging within the local community from her 14 years working as a primary school teacher and over 11 years overseeing a number of community services and projects in the charity sector. She has worked with adults with learning disabilities for many years, is passionate about inclusion and is keen to help people access services that effectively contribute to meeting their health and social care needs.
Jenny Lloyd - Community Engagement & Project Officer
Email: jenny.lloyd@healthwatchcheshire.org.uk
Jenny joined Healthwatch in May 2022 as a Community Engagement and Project Officer, moving into a Communications and Project Officer role the following year. She now works as an Associate, supporting the CEO and wider team with project delivery and development.
She is actively involved in her local community and is passionate about preventative health. She has a strong interest in the development of neighbourhood health approaches and believes in the value of delivering care closer to home, shaped around the needs of local communities. She is particularly interested in how listening to people and working collaboratively across services can support more joined-up, person-centred care. Recently qualifying as a Health and Wellbeing Coach, Jenny understands the importance of empowering people to take control of their health and how the right support can lead to meaningful improvements in outcomes.
In her previous role as an Internal Communications and Events Manager, Jenny engaged with hundreds of colleagues, using feedback to help shape and improve the workplace. She brings this experience to her role at Healthwatch, where she enjoys connecting with local people and helping turn their voices into positive change.
Board
Keith Roper, Director and Board Member
Erica Morriss, Director and Board Member
Katrina Delargy, Director and Board Member
Katrina Delargy has built a career across multiple industries, focusing on the development and support of high-performance products that function reliably in real-world conditions. Safety, usability, and continuous improvement have been consistent priorities throughout her work.
More recently, she founded a company dedicated to improving health outcomes by enabling clearer, more timely communication between individuals and healthcare professionals. Her approach centres on empowering people, particularly those navigating long-term conditions, to engage confidently with their care. She is a strong advocate for using data to support early intervention, informed decision-making, and measurable impact.
Katrina’s interest in the 5Ps of personalised medicine – Prevention, Prediction, Participation, Personalisation, and Precision-reflects her commitment to designing services that respond to individual needs while remaining scalable and practical. Her involvement with Healthwatch stems from a longstanding belief in the value of listening to the authentic voice of service users. She sees independent observation and user feedback as essential tools for improving quality, equity, and trust in health and care systems.
She brings a systems-thinking mindset, grounded in real-world evidence and a passion for making services more responsive, inclusive and effective.
Kate Cernik, Director and Board Member
I have worked as a nurse, health visitor and teacher in the NHS for almost 40 years before retiring. My career has been based in the northwest in community and primary care. Since then, I have been active in local politics, serving as the Chair of the Health Scrutiny committee for Cheshire West between 2019 and 2023.
I am currently a Northwich Town Councillor and have spent the last few years working with other to create a Dementia Friendly environment for people living with dementia and their families.
Putting the people who use the NHS at the heart of designing services has always been her passion. This ambition drives the work of Healthwatch. I am keen to contribute to helping to develop the vital role of Healthwatch as it meets the challenges being tackled by the NHS in the coming years.
Peter Folwell, Director and Board Member
My background is in engineering and management consultancy as well as organisational improvement. Since retirement I have mainly concentrated on healthcare. I have been involved in primary care patient participation in several practices and at countywide level. I was also a hospital Governor for more than ten years and lead Governor at the Countess of Chester NHS Trust for seven years. These roles have enabled me to witness a broad range of services as they affect patients within primary and secondary care.
From other healthcare related work, I have seen both the results that Healthwatch have achieved as well as the esteem in which they are held. The organisation has now become the recognised voice of the patient. This has become ever more necessary as our population ages, and ages with increasing co-morbidities. I believe that Healthwatch plays an active role in helping the population to lead healthier lifestyles and thereby reduce its dependence on primary and secondary care.
I have the greatest admiration for everyone in healthcare but have long been concerned that their dedication is insufficient if the system itself isn’t working.
I believe my skills and experience I bring to the board focus on those areas where the healthcare system could be working significantly better to improve the patient experience and outcomes.
Meaghan McCauley, Director and Board Member
Dr Shilla Mutamba, Director and Board Member
I live in Cheshire East and have experience of using local health services. I am a curious, life-long learner and currently serve as a Board Trustee and Vice Chair for a national charity. I am a Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science and have previously worked in healthcare science in the NHS and in the commercial/private sector, as well as in academia and in scientific/clinical research. I have led diverse scientific teams and managed fast-paced 24/7 laboratory diagnostic services in heavily regulated environments. I have an interest in the quality of health and care services in Cheshire and am committed to making a difference. Healthwatch Cheshire’s purpose of helping to shape and improve local health and care services by being an independent voice for the people of Cheshire, resonates with me. Having recently conducted corporate governance research for my MBA dissertation, I am passionate about board diversity and inclusive leadership. I also have a particular interest in seeing the reduction of health inequalities and the embedding of inclusive practice across all levels of health and care services. By serving on the Healthwatch Cheshire board, I trust that my voice, my lived experience, my perspective, my faith as well as my multi-contextual and multidisciplinary professional skills, knowledge and experience are all contributing towards ensuring that health and care service improvements are enjoyed by all communities in Cheshire.