Dame Yve started her professional life as an archivist, going on to hold a series of managerial roles in local government for Cheshire and Birmingham councils. In the early 1990s she was appointed city secretary by Nottingham City Council, becoming the first female chief officer in the council.
In 2000 she took her first national role having been appointed by the Government to set up the Health Development Agency, a body which established an evidence base for tackling key public health problems such as childhood obesity and smoking-related diseases. In 2003 she was awarded a DBE for her work in this area.
Dame Yve went on to become chair of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement based at Warwick University, a post she held from 2005 to 2010 and also, between 2005 and 2015, was the chair of the Consumer Council for Water. She was chair of the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital until January 2021.
In December 2022, Dame Yve joined UHB as Chair on an interim basis to provide stability during the recovery of services for patients and build on the excellent work already in place to respond to unprecedented demand on health and care services.
She is also Pro-Chancellor of Aston University and the substantive chair of Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board.