Meet the Team

Gavin Clark - Hospital Manager

Gavin has over 18 years’ experience working in independent mental health care. Following completing a psychology degree he began working as a healthcare worker in a medium secure forensic setting whilst looking to decide which area to specialize in. Preferring the day-to-day contact with service users on the ward, he retrained as a mental health nurse.

Following qualifying in 2007, Gavin returned to work in a secure setting working on male mental illness and personality disorder wards. He took his first steps in to management in 2014, as a Charge Nurse on a 16-bed female personality disorder ward, before becoming Ward Manager of a 24-bed male mental illness and personality disorder ward in 2015. Gavin initially joined Cygnet Harrogate as Clinical Manager in 2018 before taking the role of Hospital Manager in 2020.

Gavin believes in nurturing a strong and supportive team, promoting least restrictive practice, respect and compassion in order to consistently deliver the highest standards of care to service users.

Dr Rebecca Lasseko - Consultant Psychiatrist and Medical Director

Rebecca completed her Psychiatry Core and Higher training from Yorkshire and Humber deanery and she is on Specialist register as a General Adult Psychiatrist. She has a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from Makerere University in Uganda, Master of Science in Psychiatry and Master of Public Health from Leeds University. She is a member of Royal College of Psychiatrists and Regional Specialty Representative for Rehab & Social for the Yorkshire Region.

Prior to joining Cygnet Hospital Harrogate in April 2022 Rebecca worked as a clinical lead for service development strategy group for inpatients wards and rehabilitation in Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust. She has extensive experience of working as a Consultant Psychiatrist in a wide variety of settings including substance misuse, rehabilitation, community mental health teams and acute wards.

Rebecca is passionate about patients care and advocate for mental health wellbeing of her patients. In her spare time, she volunteers in various charities to improve health in her community.

Sarah Hinton - Clinical Manager

After completing a BSc Hons in Psychology Sarah decided to become a Mental Health nurse and completed her PGDip in 2013. Since then she has worked in the NHS in London as a staff nurse, deputy manager, ward manager and matron across different specialties including CAMHS, Acute, PICU, Forensic, Crisis Teams, and Eating Disorders. Whilst working, Sarah completed an MSc in Healthcare Practice; with a focus on psychosocial interventions, and a dissertation topic of reducing restrictive practices in acute and PICU settings.

Sarah has recently relocated to Harrogate, where she grew up, and joined Cygnet. She is passionate about working within the acute setting and encouraging staff to support positive therapeutic engagement with service users within these environments. She motivates teams to focus on innovative quality improvement, maintain high standards of care, and encourage involvement from service users and carers.

Trudy Chapman - General Manager

Trudy joined Cygnet Harrogate in 2015, initially on a temporary contract. She took over managing the HR department in 2016 and then became Administration Manager. Following a promotion to General Manager in 2019 Trudy is now responsible for running all of the non-clinical side of the hospital including estates, catering, admin and housekeeping.

Trudy is passionate about delivering a safe and comfortable environment for patients and staff and is committed to ensuring the hospital runs as smoothly as possible.

Ian Rutter - Sanctuary Ward Manager

Ian has over thirty years of nursing experience and has worked in various fields including acute, community and low secure settings. Prior to joining the team at Cygnet Hospital Harrogate in June 2017 Ian was Clinical Team Leader on Cygnet Hospital Wyke's male acute service. Ian was a key member of staff in the process of setting up and developing that particular service.

Ian is also a qualified teacher and strongly believes in the importance of continuous development and education of staff to improve patient care. He is also committed to the improvement of patient care and the full implementation of the PAD process on Sanctuary Ward.

Jack Hughes - Haven Ward Manager

Jack started as a support worker in an acquired brain injury rehabilitation unit. He qualified as an RNLD in 2013 and went on to work in a medium secure hospital; working on male learning disability and mental illness/personality disorder wards. He joined Cygnet in 2018 as a Clinical Team Leader and was appointed Haven Ward Manager in September 2020.

Jack is calm, approachable and organised as a person and tries to instil this within his staff team.

Neil Voakes - Occupational Therapy Lead

Neil has worked as a qualified Occupational Therapist for Cygnet Health Care since 2007. Neil has experience of working across multiple service lines including Acute, PICU, Low Secure and Personality Disorder. In 2019 Neil completed a post graduate certificate in Sensory Integration level 3 to gain Sensory Integration Practitioner status. Neil is currently employed as a Regional Occupational Therapist Lead and Head Occupational Therapist at Cygnet Hospital Harrogate.

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