OUR PEOPLE

Helen Dodds is an international lawyer and board member with over 30 years’ experience in the legal and financial services sectors. She is a solicitor, a CEDR accredited mediator and a Senior Honorary Fellow of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. Helen is currently also a board member of the UK Gambling Commission and a director of LegalUK. Previously she was Global Head of Legal, Dispute Resolution at Standard Chartered Bank, and a non-executive director of the London Court of International Arbitration. She joined the Board in January 2022.

Avey Bhatia is Chief Nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust. Avey qualified in 1991, and her clinical experience includes theatres, general intensive care, coronary care and cardiothoracic nursing. She held various staff nurse and sister posts at hospitals in London before becoming Chief Nurse and Director of Infection Prevention and Control at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2017. Avey holds a postgraduate diploma in health services management and a master’s in public administration. She is also the Trust’s Director of Patient Experience, and the executive lead for adults and children’s safeguarding, and for infection, prevention and control. Beyond Guy’s and St Thomas’, Avey is President of the Florence Nightingale Foundation and Honorary Vice President of The Nightingale Fellowship. Avey joined the Board in January 2022.

Chris Hoult joined the Board of Trustees in January 2022 as Treasurer bringing over 25 years of board level experience in roles that have encompassed Finance, IT, Procurement, Estates and Facilities as well as international trading which included two years spent living and working in Denmark. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1987 and since then he has worked in a variety of commercial and not-for-profit organisations including four years as the Director of Finance of Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust and nine years advising NHS organisations in London on major strategic reorganisation projects. Having spent five years as the Director of Finance of the Royal Voluntary Service up to the end of 2024, he now provides interim support to charities on a range of financial and governance matters.

David Verity was appointed to the Board in June 2016 and became the Order’s Hospitaller in September 2018. He is a surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital, the immediate past-President of the British Oculoplastic Surgery Society and Treasurer for the European Society (ESOPRS), and past Editor in-Chief of the international journal ‘ORBIT’. In 2015, with the ophthalmic Hospitallers of the Order, he founded the St John Eye Hospital Group’s Ophthalmic Association (SOA), a world-wide professional organisation dedicated to the postgraduate work of SJEHG. The SOA celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2025 and is now formed of six world-wide hubs of 12 separate chapters, engaging medical expertise across the Priories and supporting our staff with training courses and medical exchanges. As a surgeon, he also undertakes regular working visits to our hospitals in Jerusalem and Gaza. In 2024, Prof. Verity was appointed visiting professorships at both the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Al-Azhar University of Gaza.

Sir Andrew is an experienced Chair, Non-Executive Director and Chief Executive working in the health, life sciences, charity and consultancy sectors. He is Chair of the Board of Trustees for SJEHG and is also a Trustee on the Executive Committee of the Order of St John. Andrew joined the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) as a fast-track graduate management trainee and was a successful Chair and CEO for more than 35 years. He has worked at local, regional and national levels by invite at the Department of Health on several occasions. He has been Chair of an Integrated Care Board, led an integrated care system and was the founder CEO of the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust from 2004 to 2018.

Mark is an experienced Non-Executive Director and CEO in healthcare and life sciences, with a background in ASX-listed companies. He holds multiple fellowships, including with the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Australasian College of Health Services Management, and the Royal Society (NSW). Mark is also an Adjunct Professor in management at Macquarie University and played a key role in establishing MQ Health, Australia’s first academic health sciences centre.

Currently, he serves as Chairman and Non-Executive Director of Sonic Healthcare Limited, and as a Non-Executive Director of Next Science Limited and Chairman of St Luke’s Care. Mark is an active volunteer firefighter with the NSW Rural Fire Service and has volunteered with St John Ambulance for over 45 years.

Dr. Iyad Habil is a cornea specialist and currently serves as the interim medical director at SJEHG. He is a skilled cataract surgeon and performs a wide range of corneal and refractive procedures, including lamellar grafts. He also has extensive experience in the surgical repair of traumatic eye injuries. In addition to his clinical duties, Iyad plays an active role in training resident doctors and oversees the medical department. He is also involved in the hospital’s strategic planning and operational execution. Iyad earned his medical degree from the People’s Friendship University of Russia in Moscow and completed his ophthalmology surgical training at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem. He went on to complete a fellowship in External Eye Disease and Cornea at Hadassah before joining the medical team at SJEHG. Originally from Gaza, Iyad now lives in Jerusalem with his wife and three children. He is fluent in Arabic, English, Hebrew, and Russian.

Waleed Al Khatib graduated from Bethlehem University in 1991, joining SJEHG in 1991 as a staff nurse. Waleed has worked in all hospital departments as a staff nurse and as charge nurse. Waleed has developed his education and skills during his time at SJEHG. In 1998, he completed a high diploma in ophthalmic nursing and in 2005 he completed a master’s degree in teaching methods. Between the years 2005 to 2023, Waleed was the manager of the quality department. In 2018, he became the head of nursing and allied health professions for SJHEG.

Ahmad Awadallah is the Facilities Manager for SJEHG, with 20 years’ experience in different administrative roles. Ahmad is responsible for managing and supervising the Procurement Department, Support Services Sections and Capital Projects on both strategic and operational levels.