Amanda Pritchard takes up top job at Guy’s and St Thomas’

Amanda Pritchard starts as Chief Executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust this week, with a formal handover from current Chief Executive Professor Ian Abbs on Friday 5 September.

Trust Chairman Charles Alexander said: “I am delighted that Amanda will be coming back to Guy’s and St Thomas’ as Chief Executive, and we look forward to benefiting from her considerable leadership experience, including at a national level.

“The Board and colleagues across the Trust will want to join me in extending her a very warm welcome as Amanda reconnects with former colleagues and gets to know the many new colleagues who have joined the Trust in recent years, including at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals.

“I would also like to place on the record my personal thanks and pay tribute to Professor Ian Abbs for his outstanding contribution to the NHS. Ian’s legacy and exceptional career spans 5 decades, almost exclusively at Guy’s and St Thomas’, where he initially studied as a medical student, before becoming a consultant in renal medicine and taking on a number of senior leadership roles.

“Ian is highly regarded as one of the leading Chief Executives in the NHS, and within the Trust is hugely respected for his compassionate and inclusive leadership, including steering the Trust through the many challenges faced by both our patients and staff during the pandemic.”

Incoming Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard said: “I am very much looking forward to taking up my role as Chief Executive, returning to the frontline of the NHS. I’ll be doing so in an organisation that delivers comprehensive services both in the community and from 5 of the UK’s leading hospitals, serving patients locally in south east London, but also from across the country through its many specialist services.

“Much has changed since I left the Trust in 2019, and I am excited to get to know the new organisation. I am hugely energised by the opportunity to build on Ian's legacy as I work with colleagues both within the trust and in the wider healthcare system to meet the challenges currently facing the NHS and capitalise on the unique opportunities we have to transform the way we deliver care for our patients.”