Directors
Ed Marsden, managing director
Ed has a clinical background in general and psychiatric nursing and NHS management. He has worked for the National Audit Office, the Department of Health and the West Kent Health Authority where he was director of performance management before founding Verita in 2002. He combines his responsibilities as Verita's managing director with an active role in leading complex investigations and advising clients on the political repercussions of high-profile investigations. He is an expert in investigative techniques and procedures, and recently facilitated the introduction of a joint protocol for investigating serious patient safety incidents by the police, Health and Safety Executive and the NHS. Ed co-wrote with Derek Mechen the review of the board leadership of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust after the Healthcare Commission (now the Care Quality Commission) reported on the deaths of 90 patients as a result of Clostridium difficile infection. He is currently reviewing the death of a young woman during a routine gynaecological operation. Ed is an associate of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit where he has carried out three assignments on immigration.
Derek Mechen, director of client work
Derek has been involved in healthcare for over 30 years, holding senior operational management positions in both the NHS and independent sector. He has also worked for the National Audit Office where he led value-for-money studies and spent a year on exchange at a teaching hospital in Chicago. As director of client work for Verita, he has overall responsibility for the quality of all investigations, and heads up Verita's joint training initiative with Capsticks on maintaining high professional standards. He also leads high-profile and sensitive reviews, most recently three independent mental health homicide reviews - one in Broadmoor and two in London. He is currently investigating patient deaths in two acute trusts.
Barry Morris, director
Barry joined Verita soon after it started in 2002. He previously worked as a consultant in financial and general management where he specialised in working with companies and charities in the areas of change management and organisational development. He was until recently a trustee of three charities all working in the field of adoption and helped to develop a new training programme for adoptive parents for one of them. His recent work includes an investigation into allegations of bullying against a director of a London primary care trust; an investigation into grievances and appeals against redundancy by two consultants at a London trust; an investigation into patient safety concerns at a mental health trust and a review of clinical governance at a GP practice.
Lesley Sargeant, director
Lesley is one of Verita's founding directors. Since joining Verita as an executive director in February 2009, she has taken an active role in a number of high-profile reviews, including an independent management review related to the care of Baby P, an investigation into criminal record bureau checks for a foundation trust and a mental health homicide investigation. She also advises on all aspects of communication relating to investigations including media handling. Before joining Verita, she was a director of Freshwater Healthcare (formerly Clear), a consultancy offering specialist communication advice and training to public sector organisations. Between 1984 and 1994 she held senior posts in the NHS at national, regional and local level specialising in issue and crisis management. Before that she worked as an editor for the World Health Organisation in Geneva.