Matthew Ellis - Hospital Manager

Matt has worked in inpatient mental health care since 1998 including 25 years in the NHS. Before joining Cygnet Health Care as hospital manager he was modern matron and then patient safety lead for an NHS Trust.

In his spare time Matt enjoys keeping fit in the gym and running. He also loves watching a good film and spending time with his young daughter.

Dr Snur Hamad - Medical Director

Dr Hamad is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrist and have been working in the UK as a doctor since 2004. He trained as a general adult psychiatrist with a special interest in neurodevelopmental disorders in Yorkshire Deanery’s Higher Specialist Training Programme between 2014 to 2017. Since 2005 he has worked for different NHS Foundation Trusts in Yorkshire, as a Psychiatrist. He worked for Cygnet Oaks in Barnsley between 2018 to 2020, and joined Cygnet Wyke Hospital in September 2020.

Dr Gareth John – Consultant Psychiatrist

Dr John graduated from medical school in 2007 at the University of East Anglia. After completing his foundation training, he worked in paediatrics for 2.5 years, before switching to psychiatry in 2012.

Dr John started working at Cygnet Lodge in April 2026 before joining Cygnet Hospital Wyke in July 2026. Prior to working at Cygnet, Dr John worked as a consultant psychiatrist in the NHS at Fieldhead Hospital. His specialist interest is in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism.

Dr Aigbenosedeba (Ig) Ebewele - Speciality Doctor

Dr Ig Ebewele completed his training as a medical doctor in 2017 at the University of Benin in Nigeria. He moved to the UK in 2022, where he completed a Master’s in Public Health. Ig started his Journey with Cygnet in 2023 at Cygnet Hospital Wyke where he worked in the Acute services and also in a Rehabilitation service for patients with learning Disabilities and autism. Ig moved to join the Cygnet Lodge Brighouse team in May 2025 before moving on to join Cygnet Hospital Wyke.

Dr Kene Maduekwe - Speciality Doctor

Dr Kene qualified as a medical doctor in 2013 at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. He gained broad clinical experience across several physical health specialties in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. In 2021, he relocated to the UK, where he completed a Master’s degree in Public Health.

Dr Kene began his journey with Cygnet in 2025 as a Bank/On-call Doctor, working within acute services at Cygnet Hospital Harrogate and Cygnet Appletree, as well as in rehabilitation services at Cygnet Lodge Brighouse. He went on to join the Wyke team in July 2026.

Clodagh Burns – Head Occupational Therapist

Clodagh graduated with a BSc in Occupational Therapy from Trinity College Dublin in 2013. She started her career working in the NHS on acute mental health wards. Clodagh joined Cygnet Health Care in September 2016, she has worked within the high dependency inpatient mental health service line as well as the learning disability and autism services. She is currently the Head Occupational Therapist at Cygnet Hospital Wyke working on Kingfisher ward.

Clodagh is passionate about empowering individuals to achieve their personal goals. Clodagh has a special interest in Autism and sensory integration. She is committed to creating sensory friendly environments for the service users she works with. Clodagh is currently developing her knowledge of Sensory Integration and autism further through formal training.

Clodagh is the Regional Lead for the West Yorkshire Region. She provides leadership and guidance for the Occupational Therapy teams within this region. Clodagh has completed the Level 5 Visionary Leaders Management Apprenticeship through Cygnet Health.

Clodagh is an accredited practice educator. She enjoys supporting students with their learning by providing a number of student’s placements throughout the year.

Sarah Stephenson – Lead Social Worker

Sarah qualified as a Registered Learning Disability Nurse and a Social Worker in 2018. She started working as a newly qualified nurse within Cygnet in 2018 and transferred over to Social work in 2020. Prior to this she her experience was in working with people with mental health issues in the community. As a nurse, Sarah also had experience in working in substance misuse and complex care services.

Before qualifying as a nurse Sarah became a support worker supporting with people with learning disabilities and autism in 2010. She enjoyed supporting individuals to engage in activities that were meaningful to them and accessing the community. After 4 years in this role, she wanted to do more for people and wanted to make a difference, and so decided to go to the University of Salford to complete a degree in Integrated Practice in Learning Disabilities Nursing and Social Work.

Chaitali Chandwani - Psychologist

Chaitali is a Practitioner Psychologist with a background in both clinical and organisational psychology. She has worked across clinical, educational, and community settings, supporting individuals with a range of mental health and neurodevelopmental needs.

Chaitali is passionate about creating safe, supportive therapeutic relationships, and working collaboratively with individuals and multidisciplinary teams to support recovery and wellbeing.

Kerri Kellett - Administration Manager

Kerri started working at Wyke in January 2008 as a Medical Secretary. In August 2015 she successfully interviewed for the post of Administration Manager.

She gained AMSPAR Medical Receptionist and Medical Secretary Diplomas which put her in good stead for the Medical Secretary role in the busy Cardiothoracic Department at The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, where she worked for nine years before relocating to Yorkshire. She recently completed the Level 5 Visionary Leaders Management Apprenticeship through Cygnet Health Care.

Kerri is the Mental Health First Aider and a Freedom to Speak Up Ambassador for Wyke; she has a passion for supporting others and ensuring they have a voice within the workplace. She loves her role and feels that she has a great Administration Team who work together to ensure the needs of the service are met.

Ashley Hamlin – Ward Manager

Ashley started off working in healthcare in 2009 and began her career at Alpha Hospital Bury in 2013 as a support worker on the CAMHS PICU ward. Alpha Hospitals were eventually sold to Cygnet in 2016 where she remained until qualified. Ashley worked in various different roles including supporting the Occupation Therapy department before attending the University of Central Lancashire to qualify as a Mental Health Nurse.

Ashley remained within Cygnet Bury predominantly working on the CAMHS PICU however gaining further experience in low secure and general adolescent wards. She progressed to Clinical Team Leader and eventually became Night Service Coordinator managing the service out of hours including the adult and deaf services across the site which included 15 wards.

Ashley left Cygnet Bury to gain managerial experience in a Tier 3 CAMHS inpatient setting before returning back to Cygnet as a Ward Manager at Cygnet Hospital Wyke bringing with her experience across many services. Ashley is passionate about her role and enjoys supporting people in their time of need.

Ian Rutter – Phoenix Ward Manager

Ian is a Registered Mental Health Nurse with 41 years’ experience and is a highly experienced Ward Manager who has been a Ward Manager for Cygnet for 8 years and has nursed for Cygnet for over 18 years.

Ian is committed to driving high quality care and the service user experience and this is shown by his track record of improving services where he worked before. He is committed to working with home area services and families to ensure a smooth transition for service users from hospital to the community.

Ian is also a qualified teacher and is keen to develop and improve the skills and knowledge of the staff.

Altina Zimbahwe - Head of Care, Kingfisher Ward

Altina qualified as a registered mental health nurse in 2003 from the University of Leeds. Altina started her career with Cygnet in 2003 working in their low secure services, she has also worked within the PICU and Acute services before moving to the Rehabilitation service. Altina became Head of care at Cygnet Lodge Brighouse in July 2021 before joining the team at Cygnet Hospital Wyke in July 2026. She is a Trauma Risk Management Practitioner and Reducing Restrictive Practice lead.

Shaun Stevenson - Therapy Manager & Substance Misuse Practitioner

Shaun joined Cygnet Health Care in 2012. Prior to this he worked for 19 years with the Ministry of Justice, holding a number of roles focusing on rehabilitative work. He has facilitated and managed a wide range of offending behaviour programmes using a CBT approach.

For the past 9 years Shaun’s specialist area of work has been the development and management of substance misuse programmes in custodial and community settings. He is an experienced trainer of substance misuse workers for CBT group work.

Cordy Askew - Art Therapist

Cordy Askew is a state registered art therapist with over 20 years post qualifying experience working with people who have mental health problems and Learning Disabilities. She moved to Yorkshire in 2005 to take up a job with Cygnet. Cordy currently works at the hospital on Thursdays, offering individual and group art therapy treatment.

Carla Davey – HR Administrator

Carla joined Cygnet after gaining over 2 years’ experience in Recruitment within the public and private sector. Carla graduated in 2015 with a First Class Honours Degree in Human Resource Management.

Carla’s main role is to support the hospital with its HR function including recruitment and retention of staff as well as being responsible for providing the best training development and activities for all staff within the units.