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Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust is run by a Trust Board that consists of full-time executive and part time non-executive members, who are members of the local community.  See the latest Trust structure chart here >>

The Board's main role is to: set the strategic direction of the Trust and associated plans; monitor performance; oversee financial stewardship; ensure high standards of corporate governance and ensure effective dialogue with the local community.

All of our non-executive members live locally and are therefore in touch with the major issues affecting healthcare in the area. They all agree that a large part of their role is to represent the views of the local community by making sure that the Hospital focuses on the needs of the very people for whom it is providing services.

Please click here for the schedule of Trust Board Meetings.

 

Chairman

 

Elizabeth Butler  

Liz graduated from the University of Exeter with a degree in mathematics, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant 3 years later. She then moved to Price Waterhouse, where she worked in audit, running, among other clients, the world-wide British Gas audit. After a period in the insolvency department, she established an accountancy practice, specialising in small business start-up.

Liz still practices as an accountant, but since 1994 has had a series of non-executive roles, starting as a NED at Queen Mary’s Sidcup NHS Trust, where she became Chair in 2000. She was also chair of NHS Bromley for 5 years before taking up her current role, as Chair of Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust, in January 2011.

In addition, Liz is also a Board member of Hyde Housing Association, and independent Chair of the Audit Committee of the Electoral Commission.  She chairs the Audit Committee of the Royal College of Nursing, and is an independent member of the Audit Commission of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.  Liz has been an Equality Ambassador for the Government’s Equalities Office since 2009.

 

Non-Executive Directors

 

Anthony Downham

Anthony was appointed as Non Executive Director in 2005.

He is the Senior Independent Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Finance and Investment, Remuneration and Sustainability Committee's.
 
Anthony had a career in the Printing industry before joining Christie's International as Managing Director of the Media Division. After bringing together all of Christies non Auction businesses including a large property portfolio, he moved to New York as Chief Operating Officer. He is a Director of Homepower Ltd.

 

Veronika Simons

Veronika was appointed as non executive director in May 2010.  She is Chair of the Trust’s Integrated Governance Committee and Safeguarding Committee, a member of the Remuneration and Audit Committees and of the Aspiring to Excellence Programme Board.

Veronika is a qualified social worker who specialised in Child Protection before moving into the management of  local authority social services for all client groups. She has served on the Boards of NHS Lewisham, Queen Mary’s Sidcup NHS Trust (as interim chair), NHS South East London and the Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich Health Authority.  Over the past ten years she has worked independently, undertaking case reviews, service evaluations and management projects for health and social care agencies. Her qualifications include an MSc. in Social Research and a Diploma in Public Service Management.

 

Joanna Knowles

Joanna was appointed a non executive director in April 2010.  She is Vice-Chair of the Trust Board, Chair of the Trust’s Finance and Investment Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Audit Committees.
 
After graduating from the University of Cambridge in 1987, Joanna joined Shell to train as an accountant. After qualification, she moved into the voluntary sector, spending the last 10 years as Finance Director for a number of charities including Greenpeace, Save the Children and more recently the Alzheimer's Society, with it's remit of caring for and campaigning on behalf of people with dementia and their carers. Over that time, she has also developed skills in planning, governance, facilities management, IT investments and outsourcing.

Currently, she is working as an interim FD for the Design Museum as well as acting as Treasurer for Colalife, a small start up charity trialling whether it is possible to piggyback on Coca Cola's supply chain to deliver healthcare products to rural communities in Zambia.

 

Judith van den Broek

Judith was appointed as non executive director in June 2011.  She is a member of the Finance, Patient Experience, Audit and Integrated Governance Committees.

Judith’s background is in nursing and healthcare management. After qualifying as a registered nurse, she specialised in Intensive Care and Coronary Care. She eventually went into hospital management as a Director of Nursing at the Chaucer Hospital in Canterbury and the Clementine Churchill Hospital in Harrow. Latterly, she worked as the Hospital Executive Director at the Sloane Hospital in Beckenham and as the Chief Executive Officer at the Portland Hospital for Women and Children in London. Previously, her community voluntary work included being a Trustee Board Member for Bromley Advocacy Alliance, School Governor for St. Joseph's Academy, and fund raising for the local Cancer Research Committee.  Currently, Judith is a Trustee Board Member for Lewisham Citizens Advice Bureau and an Independent Panel Member for Lewisham Foster Carers Panel.  She has a B.A.(Hons) in History.

 

Bruce Hendry

Bruce joined the Trust Board as a non executive director in April 2011. He chairs the Workforce and Education Committee and is a member of the Finance and Investment, Remuneration and Integrated Governance Committees.

Bruce has a background in academic medicine. He is Professor of Renal Medicine at King's College London and has 30 years experience as a physician in hospital medicine and has worked as a Clinical Director of Service. He was a Governor of King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust from 2006 to 2011. His research concerns the development of new treatments for patients with kidney disease.

 

Executive Directors

 

Tim Higginson
Chief Executive
E: tim.higginson@nhs.net
T: 020 8333 3283

Tim joined the Trust as Interim Chief Executive in March 2008 prior to taking up the substantive role in January 2009.

Tim’s career has included a number of senior roles at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust, including Director of Strategy and Workforce and Director of Personnel. During 2006 and 2007, Tim was acting Chief Executive of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust for two extended periods, including five months prior to the arrival of their current Chief Executive. 
 

Claire Champion
Director of Operations & Nursing
E: claire.champion@nhs.net
T: 020 8333 3045

Claire joined the Trust in April 2006 and is the Director of Operations and Nursing, and the Director of Infection Prevention and Control (DIPC).  This role integrates the operational management and service delivery of the five clinical directorates in the Trust, including all non-medical clinical staff, ensuring that service quality is maintained and continuously improved, and key operational and quality targets are achieved. 

Claire qualified as a nurse in New Zealand in 1985 and came to the UK in 1987.  She has enjoyed a career in cardiac and intensive care nursing and management, working in several tertiary organisations progressing from a clinical background to nursing and general management.  Her first Director level appointment was in 2002 at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust.  A member of the Royal College of Nursing and Institute of Healthcare Management, Claire has a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies and a Masters Degree in Health Management (MHM).
 

John Hennessey
Director of Finance and Information
E: john.hennessey@nhs.net
T: 020 8333 3030 xtn 6870

John has been an NHS Finance Director for over 16 years, including the last 6 years at Lewisham.

He is a Certified Public Accountant (US) and has an MBA with a specialisation in Management Information Systems.  John worked for 9 years with Deloitte’s in the USA and London offices before joining the NHS in 1993.  John has been a Finance Director for a Community Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and was Deputy Chief Executive and Finance Director at the NHS National Clinical Assessment Authority.  During John’s career, he has also been seconded into the Department of Health and spent time working for a healthcare start-up business in London.

John is a member of the Executive Committee of the London branch of the Healthcare Finance Management Association (HFMA).

 

Jane Linsell
Medical Director
E: jane.linsell@nhs.net
T: 020 8333 3030 xtn 3164

Jane joined the Trust in 1994 as a Consultant in General Surgery with a colorectal subspecialty. After appointments as Clinical Director and Divisional Director for Surgery, Theatres and Critical Care, Jane became Medical Director of the Trust in October 2009.
She maintains a strong clinical interest in the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer and is Joint Chair of the Colorectal Tumour Working Group of the South East London Cancer Network.

She undertook her undergraduate and postgraduate training in London, including a number of Senior House Officer, Registrar and Senior Registrar roles at Lewisham Hospital prior to her appointment as a Consultant.

Jane is a member of the Surgical Clinical Expert Panel on the Emergency Surgery review for NHS London.  

 

Gabrielle Kingsley
Trust Director of Clinical and Academic Strategy
E: gabrielle.kingsley@nhs.net
T: 020 8333 3030 xtn 6642

Gabrielle was appointed Director of Clinical and Academic Strategy in October 2009.  The purpose of the role is to ensure the development of strategic plans for the Trust’s clinical and academic (education and research) services. As the role requires a clinical background, it also focuses on quality and safety.

Gabrielle undertook undergraduate and early postgraduate training in Bristol and South West England. She moved to London for specialist clinical and academic rheumatology training, working at Guys and Lewisham Hospitals and the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guys and St Thomas Hospitals (UMDS, now part of Kings College London, KCL).

Gabrielle joined the Trust as Consultant Senior Lecturer (later Reader) in Rheumatology in 1990. During her time at the Trust, in addition to her clinical work, she has continued in an academic role, particularly through her personal research programme in inflammatory arthritis and her role as Co-Director of the KCL Rheumatology MSc. She has also held Trust clinical and research management roles as Clinical and later Divisional Director of Medicine (1997-2009), Trust Director of Research (from 1999) and Trust Clinical Audit Chair (1996-2009).

Externally, she has held a number of significant roles with the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) and is currently Chair of the External Strategy and Policy Committee and Member of BSR Executive and Council. She has been involved in postgraduate education with the London Deanery since 2000, initially as Training Programme Director and now also as Chair of the Pan-London Specialty Training Committee in Rheumatology. Finally, she is an Executive Member of the London South Comprehensive Local Research Network (CLRN) and the South London Health Innovation & Education Cluster (HIEC). 
 

Joy Ellery (co-opted)
Director of Knowledge, Governance & Communications
E: joy.ellery@nhs.net
T: 020 8333 3082

Joy became Director of Knowledge, Governance and Communications in 2005, having held the post of Director of Knowledge Management at the Trust since January 2001.  The Directorate delivers support to all directorates and departments in areas such as Risk, Health and Safety, Corporate, Clinical, Information and Research Governance, Communications and Patient Advice and Liaison.

Joy’s early employment was in nutrition education and then clinical research.  She worked at Mayday University Hospital (now Croydon Health Services NHS Trust) from 1985 before joining University Hospital Lewisham managing the library and research services in 1997. Joy’s first degree was in physiology and biochemistry, specialising in nutrition.  After moving into education and then research, she took a masters degree in Information Science and later chartered as a librarian.
  

Lynn Saunders (co-opted)
Director of Business Development
E: lynn.saunders@nhs.net
T: 020 8333 3030 xtn 6104

Lynn joined the trust as Director of Business Development in 2010.  In her role, she leads on business development, business planning and strategy, marketing and the Trust’s Foundation Trust application.

Lynn has worked in south east London for a number of years and was previously Deputy Chief Executive at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich where she was a Board member for nine years and took responsibility for the development, commissioning and opening of that hospital.  Lynn’s career in health service management has included senior level roles in strategy and service development, business planning, service improvement and information.  Lynn has Diploma in Healthcare Management and a Masters Degree in Organisational Leadership.
 

Keith Howard (co-opted)
Director of Estates and Facilities
E: keith.howard1@nhs.net
T: 020 8333 3030 xtn 3345

Keith joined the Phase 3 team at Lewisham in 2004 in a consultancy capacity to act as a technical interface between the Phase 3 (Riverside) construction and the Trust; he continued to support the Trust operationally and was appointed as Director of Estates & Facilities in 2008.

Keith is responsible for delivery of all hard and soft Facilities services necessary to enable the hospital to operate efficiently; in addition to developing estate strategy and delivering capital projects commissioned as part of the estate development control plan.

Keith started his career with the Central Electricity Generating Board working on large electro mechanical systems.  After a short spell in operational management in the NHS he spent over 20 years working in the private sector, initially in contracting and then in consulting. He started his own company employing some 30 staff delivering engineering solutions to the process sector, with input to building services including the health sector.

 

Codes of Practice

 

The Department of Health sets codes of practice for NHS Trust Boards. All members of the Trust Board follow these codes and as part of this process, they have to say if they are directors of any other company that may do business with the NHS. At present, there are no Board members with Directorships requiring declaration in the Annual Report.

 

Committees of the Trust Board

 

The Remuneration Committee is made up of all the non-executive directors and is responsible for the appointment, appraisal and remuneration of the Executive Board members. The Audit Committee is responsible for ensuring that Trust activities are within the law and regulations, and that an effective internal control is maintained.

 

Public Trust Board Meetings

 

Each month the Trust Board holds a meeting that is open to members of the public. Please see the separate page on public Trust Board meetings for more details.

 

Where to next?

 



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