Leadership team
Priory is led by an executive team with a wide range of experience in health and social care, as well as other industry sectors. By using the accordions below, you can find out more about the members of the Priory UK board, together with our specialist directors, and the leadership teams for our Healthcare and Adult Care divisions.
Priory UK board
Rebekah Cresswell
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Priory
Rebekah has over 25 years' experience in health and social care and is a nurse by background. She joined Priory in November 2012 working as director of quality in Priory Healthcare for 4 years. During this time, she set up systems and processes, governance structures, strategically driven continuous quality improvement, and led on safeguarding, health and safety, regulation, patient safety, risk, audit and policies to ensure the delivery of high quality services to patients. She moved to the group-wide role of director of performance and regulation in January 2017 to drive improvement and lead on regulation interfacing with the seven regulators across healthcare, education and adult social care. In March 2018, she moved to Priory Adult Care full time as chief operating officer (COO) to be responsible for service delivery, ensuring the people we support and care for reach their potential and enjoy their lives.
Rebekah joined Priory from NHS North West where she was assistant director of clinical quality and patient safety, where she led on child safeguarding, commissioning for quality and innovation (CQUIN) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), with oversight of quality and safety for Greater Manchester. This included monitoring quality performance indicators (QPIs), responding to serious incidents, supporting trusts experiencing quality issues, and assessing and helping to prepare organisations for foundation trust status.
On 1 November 2021, Rebekah was appointed as CEO of Priory, overseeing Priory’s business and operations in the UK across its Healthcare and Adult Care divisions.
Jim Lee
UK Finance Director
Jim was appointed to the role of UK finance director in July 2021 and has UK-wide responsibility for the finances of Priory.
In addition to day-to-day finance activities, the finance department seeks to provide strategic and operational insight to every aspect of the business to help and support the operations to enhance the health, stability and quality of the organisation and our patient care.
Jim joined Priory in February 2011 as group tax director, with responsibility for the management of Priory's tax affairs, its relationship with HMRC, tax compliance and reporting, and providing tax advice on acquisitions, restructurings and other transactions.
In February 2020, Jim took a broader role across the finance team with oversight of, and providing support to, the treasury, financial accounting, sales ledger and purchase ledger departments within Priory, in addition to continued responsibility for Priory's tax affairs.
Before joining Priory, Jim was in private practice with Deloitte for over 10 years. During this time, he qualified as a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser, specialising in corporate tax and transaction support, with a particular focus on the healthcare sector.
Dave Hall
General Counsel and Company Secretary
Dave is a UK-qualified solicitor and joined Priory in 2007 as its first general counsel. Dave leads the legal and compliance teams at Priory who advise on all legal, regulatory, health and safety, risk management, insurance, data protection, corporate, commercial and property matters.
Dave has considerable transaction experience, having worked as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer in the London office of Linklaters for 9 years prior to joining Priory. He has been central to the success of Priory's acquisition programme, having acted on the purchase of Affinity, Harbour Care, Peninsula, High Quality Lifestyles, New Directions, CastleCare, Life Works, Progress Care and Aspire.
Louise Griffiths
UK Director of Strategy and Service Development
Louise works alongside the operations teams, to grow and develop new services for people with complex behaviours that challenge, both in residential and supported living settings.
Louise has over 18 years of experience in developing services and leading service development teams in both healthcare and social care settings, having worked at Aspirations Care, Inmind, Care Aspirations, Cambian, Ramsay Healthcare and Cheadle Royal Hospital (prior to Priory owning it).
In April 2021, Louise was appointed to the role of UK director of strategy and service development and is responsible for looking after business development and strategic growth. This department works to ensure we have services to meet the needs of people in the UK, drive strategic development of services and maximise occupancy through referrer engagement, service promotion and referral management.
John Dalton
UK Commercial Finance Director
John is a Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)-qualified accountant with extensive care sector experience, having worked in a number of senior finance roles within adult social care, education and healthcare since 2005.
He was appointed as commercial finance director UK in April 2022, to establish one dedicated UK central operational finance team supporting the needs of the business.
John has worked for Priory since 2015; he previously held the role of head of finance and was then appointed finance director of Priory Adult Care in April 2017, when the Craegmoor and Amore Care divisions merged into Priory Adult Care.
Prior to joining Priory, he worked as divisional financial controller at Craegmoor and commercial financial controller at embrace group.
Colin Quick
Chief Quality Officer
Colin has worked in nursing since 1992, initially as a nursing assistant, then completing his registered nurse training in 1998. Since then, he has worked across a number of NHS and independent sector providers, as well as serving as a nursing officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF). In his career, he has held both operational and professional leadership roles covering community and inpatient services within mental health, learning disability and physical care services.
Colin joined Priory in 2019, initially as the group deputy director of nursing and then as the executive director of nursing and quality. He has supported the professional development of our nursing contingent as well as our allied health professionals, alongside operating as the executive lead for infection control and safeguarding. Colin was appointed into the role of chief quality officer in June 2022, where he leads on the operational and strategic approach to quality within the organisation, with a key focus on ensuring that the highest standards of care are delivered within all of our services.
Colin also continues to act as chief nurse and the nominated director of infection prevention and control.
Jayne Stutt
Chief People Officer
Jayne joined Priory in September 2013 to lead on HR for Amore Care, before being appointed as HR director for Priory Adult Care in April 2017, following the merger of the Amore Care and Craegmoor divisions. Jayne was appointed to the role of chief people officer in June 2022 to work strategically across Priory’s operational and corporate services divisions. She holds accountability for talent acquisition, HR business partnering and employee relations, workforce and leadership development and colleague engagement.
Before joining Priory, Jayne worked in local government leading on large-scale restructuring and transformation programmes, and also has significant experience in the not-for-profit sector, having worked for a housing association for over 10 years delivering HR services to their care and support division. Jayne is Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) qualified, obtaining PGDip in human resources management from Nottingham Business School in 2010.
Dr Adrian Cree
Chief Medical Officer
Adrian joined Priory in his first consultant role in 2007 and became a medical director in 2011. Following a period working for Partnerships in Care, he returned to Priory when the two organisations merged in 2016. He became a regional associate medical director in 2017, overseeing the south region. He was appointed UK medical director in 2020, and joined the Priory UK board in April 2024, as Chief Medical Officer.
Adrian is responsible officer and Caldicott Guardian for Priory, and also oversees our ongoing involvement in high quality research through his leadership of the Priory research group. His responsibilities include oversight of prescribing practices, a focus on enhancing the recruitment of medical staff, and the leadership of projects related to record keeping and patient safety.
Priory is part of MEDIAN Group. The following members of MEDIAN Group are part of the Priory UK Board:
Philipp Schulte-Noelle
MEDIAN Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Philipp was appointed MEDIAN Group CEO on 1st July 2024, having held the role of Group COO since September 2023. Between January and July 2024, he also held the role of interim Chief Financial Officer, guiding MEDIAN Group through a significant refinancing process.
In his role as MEDIAN Group CEO, Philipp leads a core management team consisting of the Group CFO and the CEOs of MEDIAN Group’s subsidiaries including: Priory, MEDIAN in Germany and Hestia in Spain. He is also responsible for key corporate Group functions including: digital solutions, research, medical quality and innovation, group services, and marketing and communications.
Prior to joining MEDIAN Group, Philipp was CEO and, previously, chief financial officer (CFO) of medical technology manufacturer, Ottobock, between 2018 and 2022. He held various positions at global healthcare group, Fresenius, including senior vice president, head of corporate business development/mergers and acquisitions, and CFO of Fresenius Kabi (a division providing healthcare products for critically and chronically ill patients). Most recently, he advised start-ups and was active as an investor in the digital health sector.
Passionate about tech-enabled growth and people, Philipp has extensive knowledge of the healthcare sector, MedTech, organisational transformation, mergers and acquisitions, capital market readiness and environmental, social and governance (ESG). He previously lived and worked in the UK, as well as in Germany.
Matthias Oehmicke
MEDIAN Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Matthias Oehmicke joined MEDIAN Group as Chief Financial Officer in July 2024, forming part of the core leadership team comprised of the Group CEO and the CEOs for MEDIAN Group’s individual subsidiary companies, Priory, MEDIAN in Germany and Hestia in Spain.
Matthias previously held the role of CFO and board member at GRILLO-WERKE AG. He has extensive experience in senior finance roles within international organisations including F.H. Bertling Group and subsidiaries of Freudenberg Chemical Specialties, as well as at the consulting firms PWC and KPMG. Alongside German, Matthias speaks English and Spanish fluently.
Specialist directors
Alex Ares
UK Director of IT
As director of IT, Alex is responsible for IT systems implementation, support services, IT purchasing, business intelligence and the management of projects throughout the organisation. He was previously projects director and has been with Priory for 14 years. Since relocating from Spain to join Priory, Alex has been instrumental in the delivery of a wide range of projects, including electronic patient records, e-rostering and e-prescribing, as well as various systems integrations
Alex has over 20 years’ experience within healthcare, projects and the IT industry, and is passionate about enabling our sites and homes to deliver high quality care and support to our patients and residents.
Matt Rowlands
UK Director of Marketing
Matt joined Priory in 2015 as the deputy director of marketing, focusing on the Healthcare division, before taking on the director of marketing role in July 2021. Matt’s remit covers the marketing activities of both Healthcare and Adult Care divisions, supporting operations and business development teams. He also oversees the digital marketing function, including the management of the Priory websites, with an aim to provide a smooth and informative online enquiry experience for clients and referrers.
Matt has over 20 years’ experience within healthcare, including a number of senior marketing roles at Bupa, where he led marketing and communications strategy for corporate, retail and partnerships teams. A key area of focus for Matt, is to help ensure the customer is kept at the heart of our strategy, and to help to normalise mental health discussions for those in need.
Phil Bytheway
UK Director of Estates and Facilities Management
Phil is responsible for managing the provision of estates and facilities management across Priory. He oversees all the major capital projects, estates budgets and other functions provided by the estates team. Initially, Phil joined Priory in 2004 as estates manager. He then moved on to become the head of estates in 2019 before taking up his current role as director of estates and facilities management.
Phil is a chartered building surveyor with a BSc in building surveying. Before joining Priory, he was a regional property surveyor for a major brewery and hotel chain, undertaking new builds and refurbishment projects.
Elizabeth Hughes
UK Director of Operational Information
Liz joined Priory in July 2013 as a healthcare information analyst and later became head of information in the Healthcare division. While in these roles, she developed, implemented and maintained analysis to support the requirements of the division, while ensuring data validity and straightforward presentation of actionable information to benefit our patients and residents.
In 2018, Liz became head of integrated information in the Adult Care division, where her role widened to identifying innovative ways to triangulate data across a variety of business areas to identify the overall performance of our services. In January 2022, Liz became the director of operational information, overseeing the information teams in both the Adult Care and Healthcare divisions.
Liz has extensive analytical experience and has worked across a variety of sectors during her career, including health, social care and education. This has enabled Liz to look at data and information from a variety of different viewpoints and to ensure that resulting conclusions can be easily understood by a range of audiences.
Healthcare leadership team
Heather Tierney-Moore OBE
Non-Executive Director, Priory Healthcare
Heather Tierney-Moore OBE was appointed to the Priory Healthcare operating board as non-executive director, in June 2022.
Heather Tierney-Moore OBE has had a long and distinguished career working at trust, regional and national level across the NHS in England and Scotland. Heather now has a portfolio of non-executive and strategic advisory roles, including interim chair for NHS supply chain. With 25 years of board experience and 10 years of non-executive board experience, Heather began her career as a nurse. She is national patron for the Positive Practice Mental Health Collaborative and has extensive experience in healthcare, having been CEO for Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust and director at NHS Lothian Board and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.
Heather has held a number of non-executive positions, including director at Community Integrated Care and NHS Confederation, and trustee for Black Stork/The DNRC Charity. She was honoured by the Queen in 2002 for services to healthcare.
Sue Harms
Managing Director - South
Sue joined Priory in July 2011 and since this time, has held a number of roles including director of clinical services, hospital director and operations director. Leaving for a short while in 2021, Sue returned as the managing director for the South in February 2022.
Sue is a mental health nurse by profession and has over 25 years' experience of working within healthcare in a range of clinical environments and organisations. Sue is excited to have re-joined Priory and is passionate about developing teams who are proud of the work they do together to deliver excellent patient care.
Reuben Evans
Managing Director - West
Reuben started his career as a nursing auxiliary in Cardiff in 1991 and soon commenced his training, qualifying in 1995. Following his initial roles in acute and detox services, he commenced a career in high security followed by senior nursing roles in medium and low secure services in the NHS and independent sector.
He took up his first role as a hospital director in 2006 and has led teams in delivering a number of turnaround projects improving the quality and efficiency of services, achieving one of the first awards of 'outstanding' in the mental health sector in 2016.
Reuben joined Priory in January 2020, initially as a hospital director in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), before leading a complex large service providing a range of treatment services. He was appointed to the role of managing director in 2023, focusing on the West of England and Wales.
Gary Stobbs
Managing Director - East
Gary is a registered mental health nurse having completed his training at Northumbria University in 1997. He has spent most of his management career in the independent sector and has been a hospital director at both Kneesworth House Hospital and Priory Enfield Hospital, which became the first ever mental health care service in England and Wales to achieve an overall rating of 'outstanding' with the CQC.
Gary has previously been a regional manager at Choice Lifestyles and has also worked at St Andrews Healthcare. He became managing director for the East region in January 2022.
Steve Baker
Managing Director - North
Steve became a managing director in the Healthcare division in November 2022. With over 30 years’ experience in health and social care, Steve has extensive experience of leading large scale operations across England and Wales and a strong track record of performance improvement. Prior to his current role, Steve was previously a managing director in Priory’s Adult Care division, and before that held a number of senior roles within Mencap.
Steve is passionate about creating an environment for teams to be successful so that the people we support receive high standards of care that helps them achieve their outcomes. Steve also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Warwick Business School
Victoria Colloby
Director of Wellbeing Strategy and Services
As Director of Wellbeing Strategy & Services, Victoria leads the strategic development and operational delivery of Priory’s private wellbeing services, including of our network of outpatient wellbeing centres and our employee assistance service provider, Care first. Victoria joined Priory in 2014 and has previously held a number of Hospital and Regional Director roles.
Victoria started her career in HM Prison Service, before moving to the immigration and wider custodial sectors. She is passionate about enabling teams to deliver excellent care to those they support and leading the transformation of services to improve outcomes. Victoria holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Chemistry (Leicester) and a Master of Studies in Criminology & Prison Management (Cambridge University).
Sabrina Cator
Service Development Director
Sabrina joined Priory in 2015 as a private business development manager, having worked previously for 6 years for luxury tour operators and 1 year for a charity that supported facilitating adventures of a lifetime for disabled people. She is passionate about the client experience and supporting everyone involved in the delivery of services including funders, individuals, their families and all supporting staff.
During her time at Priory, Sabrina has worked her way up the team, supporting numerous projects for change, to service development director of healthcare. With her team, day-to-day she is now supporting the promotion of new service offerings, raising awareness and responding to key stakeholders to ensure Priory delivers services that deliver great outcomes for our patients.
Adriana Murray
HR Director
Adriana (Adrie) was appointed HR director of the Priory Healthcare division in December 2021.
Before joining Priory, Adrie held senior HR roles across a variety of sectors, delivering HR services to healthcare, education and telehealth divisions. During Adrie’s career, she has lead on transformation programmes, acquisitions, merges and transfer of undertakings (protection of employment) regulations (TUPE). Adrie is CIPD qualified, obtaining a Masters in human resources management from Doncaster Business School in 2012.
Adrie is committed to supporting any cause that will make a difference in the lives of people in need, so they too can experience an enriched, fulfilled life.
Charlie Young
Director of Quality
Charlie joined Priory in April 2024 as Director of Quality, bringing extensive expertise in healthcare regulation, quality improvement, quality assurance, and governance. His background includes senior leadership roles within various organisations and large independent providers across both mental healthcare and adult care sectors, where he worked closely with key stakeholders to drive service standards and excellence.
At Priory, Charlie sits on the operational boards for both the Adult Care and Healthcare divisions, as well as the Quality Assurance Committee. He also chairs the Adult Care Divisional Governance and Group Reducing Restrictive Practices Committees. In his role, he oversees critical quality functions, including Quality Assurance, Reducing Restrictive Practices and Positive Behaviour Support, ensuring consistent service excellence across the organisation.
Adult Care leadership team
Dr Olu Olasode, PhD, APSA, FCCA
Non-Executive Director
In June 2022, Dr Olu Olasode was appointed to the Priory Adult Care operating board as an independent non-executive director.
Dr Olasode has over 32 years of executive leadership experience alongside 25 years as non-executive director and chairman of audit and governance, within several healthcare, social care, housing, communities, and private sector organisations. These include the CQC, the Audit Commission, NHS trusts, and local and central government. He is a chartered accountant, economist, and leadership consultant. He was one of the five government-appointed commissioners that led the development of the new regulatory model for social care and mental health services.
Dr Olasode is Group CEO of TL First Consulting, non-executive director and chair of integrated audit and governance with East Kent University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and independent chair of audit and governance with the London Borough of Croydon Council.
Christine Keyse
Managing Director, South East
Christine joined Priory in 2011, having previously worked within the social care industry since November 2001. Since joining Priory, Christine has held various roles from service manager to operations director for new business. This role included supporting the development of new services in line with local authority and transforming care.
Christine started with Priory Adult Care as operations director within the South East region in 2017, progressing to managing director in June 2019. Christine has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the social care industry and is very passionate about pathways and positive change – her own journey also being a positive pathway with Priory.
Sarah Perez
Managing Director, North, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Sarah is a registered nurse and commenced her career within the acute surgical setting in the NHS. She then joined the independent sector, holding a number of roles, including clinical lead, home manager and regional manager. She joined Priory in 2016 as a registered manager for our largest older people’s service, with over 100 beds, subsequently moving to quality improvement lead and then operations director for the North West, when Priory Adult Care was formed in April 2017.
In April 2021, Sarah became the managing director for the North, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Jason Perry
Managing Director, South East
Jason has been in the health and social care industry since 2009, starting as a support worker and joining Priory in 2020 as operations director for the Kent sub-region, following similar roles with other providers. As operations director, Jason supported in the development of new services and on various national project groups for the organisation.
Jason was promoted to managing director for the South East in December 2022, demonstrating positive pathway development within Priory. His focus includes driving continuous quality improvement for the locations within his region, and tackling the ongoing industry pressures to ensure the people we support receive good quality care that helps them achieve their outcomes.
Mandy Whyatt
Service Development Director
Mandy joined Priory in 2019 as a service development manager and was promoted to service development director in April 2021. Mandy has worked within the social care industry since 2001, including operational and service development roles. Additionally, she has operated at a senior managing director and board level position within children and young people’s services, which focused predominantly on young people leaving care and moving to independence.
Mandy is passionate about delivering high quality, person-centred services to meet local and national demand.
Angela Dyson
Supported Living Director
Angela joined Priory Adult Care in 2018 as supported living director, having worked previously for 11 years as an integrated commissioner for mental health and disability. The role consisted of commissioning person-centred services across a range of different models of supported living services, as well as re-modelling services that were no longer fit for purpose.
Angela has a wealth of experience in the social care industry and working with adults with complex needs. This includes over 30 years as a qualified social worker, and working in both the statutory and voluntary sectors within operational management.
Michelle Widjaew
Assessment and Transitions Director
Michelle has been in management roles as a registered manager for both adult and children’s specialist residential services since 2003. She joined Priory Adult Care in 2016 as a dual site registered manager, one of which is an ‘outstanding’ CQC rated service. Michelle’s role also included supporting the local Learning Disability and Autism Programme Agenda (previously known as Transforming Care) teams to transition long stay residents into community placements. In 2020, Michelle was promoted to the role of assessment and transitions director, to continue this work across the organisation. Michelle is also a qualified social worker who has completed her Master of Education (MEd) in Autism at the University of Birmingham.
Michelle is very passionate about leading teams and offering outstanding person-centred support within the least restrictive environments, alongside continually improving quality of life and independence for the people we support within our specialist residential services.
Charlie Young
Director of Quality
Charlie joined Priory in April 2024 as Director of Quality, bringing extensive expertise in healthcare regulation, quality improvement, quality assurance, and governance. His background includes senior leadership roles within various organisations and large independent providers across both mental healthcare and adult care sectors, where he worked closely with key stakeholders to drive service standards and excellence.
At Priory, Charlie sits on the operational boards for both the Adult Care and Healthcare divisions, as well as the Quality Assurance Committee. He also chairs the Adult Care Divisional Governance and Group Reducing Restrictive Practices Committees. In his role, he oversees critical quality functions, including Quality Assurance, Reducing Restrictive Practices and Positive Behaviour Support, ensuring consistent service excellence across the organisation.