Sally Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Huyton, has been appointed Chair of Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust. She will begin her three-year tenure on January 1st 2017.
Baroness Morgan was made a life peer in 2001. She has served as minister of state in the Cabinet Office, political secretary to the prime minister and director of government relations at 10 Downing Street, Chair of OFSTED and board member of the Olympic Delivery Authority. Commenting on behalf of the Trust’s council of governors, lead governor Ray Puddifoot, said: “The NHS is experiencing a period of continuing challenge as demand for services rises exponentially. Challenging times require confident and talented leaders and that is exactly what we have in Baroness Morgan. She brings extensive experience at board and advisory level in the public, private and third sectors, along with political acumen.”
Baroness Morgan commented: “I am delighted to be taking on the role of Chair at Royal Brompton & Harefield which has a local, national and international reputation for patient care and for research. Specialist trusts make a vital contribution to pushing the boundaries of modern medicine, developing new treatments that both improve lives and save lives. I am passionate about the NHS and patient-focussed research, and very much look forward to building on my experience in business, politics and education to help guide the Trust successfully through a challenging period.”
Bob Bell, chief executive of Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, added: “I very much look forward to welcoming Baroness Morgan in January. She brings skills and experience that will be extremely valuable during the months and years ahead.” After serving as a local councillor and working as a secondary school teacher, Baroness Morgan worked for Tony Blair when he was leader of the opposition. Following the 1997 general election she was appointed political secretary to the Prime Minister and head of the Prime Minister's political office. She then served as minister of state in the Cabinet Office before returning to Downing Street as director of government relations. Since leaving government in 2005, Baroness Morgan has held a number of appointments in the public and private sector. She was the Chair of OFSTED, the Office for Standards in Education, from 2011 – 2014 and sat on the board of the
Olympic Delivery Authority for its six year duration. She is currently a member of the House of Lords Science & Technology Select Committee. Baroness Morgan has been a lay member of the Council of King’s College London, since 2013, and was appointed vice-chair in September 2016. She is also a member of the Council's Estates Strategy Committee and the Fellowships and Honorary Degrees Committee. Currently she is Chair of Ambition School Leadership (a UK education charity) and board adviser to Ark, which runs academies in the UK and works internationally in education. She is a non-executive director of Dixons Carphone PLC and Countryside Properties PLC.
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For further information, please contact:
Oliver Wilkinson
Deputy Head of Communications
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust
Tel: 020 7351 8672
Mobile: 07866 536 345
Email: o.wilkinson@rbht.nhs.uk
Follow us on Twitter: @RBandH
Notes to editors:
The Trust’s former chairman, Sir Robert Finch, passed away in March 2016 following a short illness. Mr Neil Lerner has fulfilled the post of acting chairman in the interim.
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust is the UK’s largest specialist centre for the treatment of heart and lung disease. Working from two sites, Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea, West London, and Harefield Hospital, near Uxbridge, the Trust has an international reputation for the expertise of its staff, high standard of care and research success. Experts at the Trust help patients from all age groups who have heart and lung problems and provide some of the most complex surgery and sophisticated treatments available anywhere in the world.
The Trust is the UK’s largest centre for the treatment of adult congenital heart disease and is the country’s leading provider of specialist respiratory care. Over the years the Trust has been responsible for major medical breakthroughs, such as the UK’s first combined heart and lung transplant. It established the UK’s first adult service for cystic fibrosis, which is now one of Europe’s biggest treatment centres for the condition, and has pioneered the use of primary angioplasty for the treatment of heart attacks. Today the Heart Attack Centre at Harefield has one of the fastest arrival-to-treatment times in the UK, a crucial factor in patients’ survival.
As a member of the Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC), in collaboration with Imperial College London, Imperial College Healthcare Trust and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, the Trust helps to drive innovation and improved care for over 1.1 million patients each year in North West London, by aligning the research, education and clinical services of the partner organisations. For further information, visit www.rbht.nhs.uk