Mel joined BTHFT as Chief Executive Officer in November 2019. She qualified as a registered general nurse in 1990 and after a number of clinical roles, worked in management before moving back into a professional nursing leadership role. In 1998 Mel became the Deputy Director of Nursing at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Trust and was appointed Director of Nursing and Quality at Rotherham General Hospitals NHS Trust in 2001.
Mel then moved to Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust in 2003 to take up the post of Director of Nursing and Governance, a role in which she later became Director of Operations and Deputy Chief Executive. Mel was Chief Executive of The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust from January 2007 prior to her appointment with Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2011.