Claire Griffiths - Hospital Director

Having worked in care settings for a number of years as a Healthcare Support Worker Claire enrolled on the Diploma in Nursing Course at The University of Nottingham in 2004. She later returned to the same university to complete her Nursing Degree in 2013.

Claire has held a number of roles in the organisation over the last 16 years. Starting as a nurse at Cygnet Sherwood House, progressing to Head of Care before taking her first managerial role in 2012.

Since 2012 Claire has managed an Acquired Brain Injury service, Mental Health Hospital and Learning Disability Hospital.

One of Claire’s proudest achievements as Hospital Manager was at Cygnet Sherwood Lodge in 2019, where the service received an ‘Outstanding’ in all key lines of enquiry (KLOES) CQC rating.

Another career highlight was opening Cygnet Joyce Parker Hospital in 2020, a CAMHS service with four wards (PICU, Acute and Low Secure).

Claire remains very proud of the services and teams she has worked with and is looking forward to opening another successful service in the East Midlands.

Jeff Ashby - Clinical Manager

Jeff began his healthcare career in 2009 as a support worker in a residential home, before going on to study mental health nursing at the University of Nottingham. He graduated with a BSc in Mental Health Nursing in 2014 and has subsequently gained clinical experience in both CAMHS and adult services, including acute, PICU and secure ward environments.

Jeff joined Cygnet in 2020 as a bank nurse at Cygnet Hospital Clifton, before taking up a substantive position in the recently opened Joyce Parker Hospital in early 2021. Whilst at Joyce Parker, he substantively held positions as Clinical Team Leader, Ward Manager and Clinical Manager. As Clinical Manager, he demonstrated a clear increase in clinical and training compliance across the unit. He subsequently transferred to Cygnet Hospital Sherwood in 2024 as the Clinical Manager of the new service.

Outside of his direct clinical experience, Jeff completed the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme in 2018 and subsequently worked substantively as a non-clinical senior manager in an acute NHS trust from 2018 to 2021. He also holds an MSc in Healthcare Leadership from the University of Birmingham & University of Manchester, as well as a number of qualifications in change and project management. In 2024, he completed the Independent Prescriber Programme at the University of Lincoln and was granted Nurse Independent / Supplementary Prescriber status by the NMC.

Hayley Stafford - General Manager

Hayley started at Cygnet Sherwood House as a Customer Relations Administrator in 2008, working on their reception and also acting as the Personal Assistant for the Commissioning Manager at the time. In 2010 she progressed into Mental Health Act Administration. She worked at Sherwood House and also at Cygnet Grange and Lodge (Acquired Brain Injury Units) when they opened as their Mental Health Act Administrator.

In 2013 Hayley became the Lead Mental Health Act Administrator for the East Midlands and transferred over to Cygnet Sherwood Lodge when it was built to carry on that role from there. She worked across various hospitals in the region throughout that time building up experience across different patient groups. She remained there until she transferred over to Cygnet Hospital Sherwood in 2024 as the General Manager. Hayley remains the Lead Mental Health Act Law Practitioner for the East Midlands alongside this role.

Faye Barker-Lane - Ward Manager, Bramble Ward

Faye began her career in healthcare prior to obtaining her degree, working within care settings as a healthcare support worker and some small volunteering opportunities. This developed her interest to attend University to study Mental Health Nursing. Faye then qualified as a Registered Mental Health nurse in 2017.

After qualifying Faye worked within a high secure forensic mental health hospital progressing through different roles and within different areas from newly qualified nurse to deputy ward manager. Faye worked within the mental health, personality disorder and learning disability directorates for six years.

Faye was then successful in obtaining the Ward Manager role at Cygnet Hospital Sherwood in January 2024. Faye is passionate to continue her journey within Cygnet and has enjoyed learning new skills, and she has been a part of opening one of the new acute wards. Faye is continuing to develop on her own knowledge and leadership within Cygnet and is proud to be a part of the team.

Louise Hales - Ward Manager, Fern Ward

Louise began her journey with Cygnet in 2019 as a bank support worker on a female personality disorder unit, whilst completing her Mental Health Nursing Degree. After qualifying in 2020, she spent a brief period working in the NHS on a female acute ward before joining Cygnet Joyce Parker Hospital when it opened later that year. During her time at Cygnet Joyce Parker, she worked on the CAMHS PICU, progressing through roles including Nurse, Clinical Team Leader, and Ward Manager. In addition to managing the PICU, Louise was also responsible for overseeing a bespoke ward created to support a young person with highly complex needs, requiring an individualised care environment.

At the end of 2024, Louise supported the transition to a male PICU, and in early 2025, she moved to Cygnet Hospital Sherwood. Louise is proud to be part of the team, and is passionate about contributing to the ongoing development of the hospital and delivering the highest standards of care.

Mark Davies - Ward Manager, Treetops Ward

Mark has worked in the mental health sector since 2007, initially as a support worker before commencing his nurse training. He qualified in 2012 with a diploma and was given an award for achieving the highest ever mark with university of Nottingham, at the point.

Prior to joining Cygnet, Mark enjoyed a variety of roles working for a crisis team, assessment team, in acute ward for males, senior CPN at CMHT, all in the NHS. He then took on his first management position in the independent sector at Priory.

Mark has developed an aptitude for quality and service improvement. He redesigned the entire crisis team’s way of working by making the service paperless and introducing IT processes to make service delivery more efficient; this system is still in use today. He also heavily contributed to turning around a failing ward into an Outstanding ward.

Mark is passionate about quality and safety, supporting teams, identifying talent and high standards and is looking forward to a new challenge since joining Cygnet.

Zoe Elkington – Principal Forensic Psychologist

Zoe has worked in a variety of forensic and forensic mental health settings over the last 22 years and joined Cygnet in 2009 working predominantly in male high dependency rehabilitation services. Zoe has also supported the wider psychological services within the organisation across different service lines. Zoe joined the team at Cygnet Hospital Sherwood in January 2024 as head of the psychology department.

Zoe is passionate about working in forensic mental health and adopts and promotes trauma-informed practice into the care and treatment provided by the psychology department and the wider staff team. Zoe has a breadth of experience in assessments and interventions for males experiencing a diverse range of difficulties and is committed to delivering person centred care utilising a variety of therapeutic approaches to achieve this.

Zoe is also passionate about developing and training the next generation of psychologists by providing opportunities to gain experience as well as providing clinical and academic supervision.

Adam Robinson - Lead Occupational Therapist

Adam has worked at Cygnet for 14 years, 10 of these as a qualified Occupational Therapist. During this time Adam has worked across many Cygnet sites and service lines including male mental health, community mental health and secure forensic male personality disorder services.

Prior to working at Cygnet Hospital Sherwood, Adam worked at Cygnet Aspen House, service specialising in high dependency inpatient rehabilitation for women who have severe and enduring mental illness, as an Occupational Therapist.