Executive Directors

John Rogers - Chief Executive

    John Rogers has been the Chief Executive of Skills for Health since its establishment in April 2002. Prior to this John was the Chief Executive of Healthwork UK, the national health training organisation, between 2000 and 2002.

He has worked in the health sector for the last 16 years, during which time he has been involved in national workforce development as a Director at the NHS Training Authority and at a national level with the Department of Health.

Sam Gallaher - Executive Director, Business Development and Consultancy

Sam Gallaher heads the Local Workforce Solutions Directorate focused on supporting local health employers with skills development and workforce redesign to improve productivity and effectiveness.

Sam has held a number of senior positions in both the public and private sectors mostly working in and with health sector organisations. From a background in construction, capital planning and investment, Sam progressed from positions in health estate management to leading major organisational change. 

In the early 1990s Sam was involved with The Resource Management initiative leading a major IT and OD programme in a large teaching hospital.  From 1996 Sam was Regional Director with the specialist health intelligence and benchmarking consultancy, CHKS with responsibility for most of the UK and Ireland.

Christina Pond - Executive Director, Products and Services

Christina Pond joined Skills for Health in 2005 and has responsibility for the development of SfH position on, and response to, Health, Education and Skills Policy through the development of national occupational standards, qualifications and apprenticeship frameworks that support learning supply and facilitate skills.

Christina qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 1980 and practiced clinically for ten years before moving into the first of a series of operational management posts and strategic leadership roles in the Health Service.

In January 1998, she became Chief Executive of East Berkshire Trust for People with Learning Disabilities and moved to the Department of Health in September 2000 as Head of Learning and Performance Processes.

From 2001 to July 2005 she worked for the NHS Leadership Centre initially as a National Programme Director for Team and Network Leadership and subsequently as Acting Director of the Centre. 

Denise Morris - Executive Director, Finance & Contracting

Denise is a qualified accountant, having achieved fellowship status early on in her career and secured an MBA in 2001. Having worked in the private, voluntary and public sector she brings a wealth of experience to her role within Skills for Health.

Having started her career in manufacturing: working her way up from payroll clerk to factory accountant, the next step involved a move into the public sector at Staffordshire University where she worked as a management accountant. From here she went into the NHS where she was employed as Deputy Director of Finance in a mental health Trust and quickly progressed to the Director of Finance role.

Denise left the NHS in 2001 and set up her own private practice and consultancy partnership. During this period she came into contact with Skills for Health and formally took up a permanent post in 2005.

Alongside this Denise has undertaken a number of voluntary roles working with for example Age Concern and the League of Friends as a Non Executive Director as well as numerous voluntary activities with her local rotary club. Her current voluntary interests include providing financial support and advice to those from disadvantaged backgrounds.