New Chair announced for Homerton Healthcare
Mary Elford has been appointed as the new Chair for Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which delivers acute and community services to the people of City & Hackney and north east London. Mary takes over from Sir John Gieve when he steps down at the end of his tenure on the 31 March 2025.
Speaking of the appointment, Lead Governor at Homerton Healthcare, Jo Boait said: “We are very pleased to have appointed Mary to be our new Chair at Homerton Healthcare. She brings with her a wealth of expertise from across the NHS which will be invaluable to us as we go forward as an integrated healthcare organisation working closely with our local communities and NHS partners.”
Bas Sadiq, Chief Executive of Homerton Healthcare and Place-based Leader of the City & Hackney Health and Care Partnership said:
“I am delighted that Mary is joining Homerton Healthcare as our new Chair. Her wide-ranging experience both in the NHS and the private sector will be a great asset as we continue our work to deliver outstanding care for our patients and service users.
“I know Mary shares our passion to put patients and the people of City and Hackney at the centre of everything we do. Her experience will be incredibly valuable as we rise to the challenges that we know lie ahead. I look forward to working with her and our partners locally and across the system as we go further and faster on our prevention and place-based work to deliver innovative joined up care for the communities we serve.
“I also want to take this opportunity to thank Sir John for his outstanding leadership and devotion to the Trust during his 6 years as Chair and almost 14 years on the board”.
Reacting to her appointment Mary said:
“I am thrilled to be joining the Trust and working with the impressive team at the Homerton as well as colleagues in Barts and BHRUT and across the Integrated Care System in North East London.
“The Homerton is known for its close connection to the local community, and I look forward to building on this as part of the important development of place-based working. I am passionate about ensuring that the voices of staff, patients and service users are heard, and we continue to work to deliver outstanding care to the people of City and Hackney and north east London.”
Mary will be taking up her post from 1 April 2025, when she finishes her tenure as Chair for Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, a position she has held since 2020.
Prior to this, Mary was Vice Chair of East London NHS Foundation Trust and served as a Non-Executive Director for Bart’s and the London NHS Trust and also Health Education England. She has also been a Council Member for Queen Mary, University of London, a member of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel for the NHS and a council member of the General Pharmaceutical Council.
Mary’s commercial career was with the John Lewis Partnership, where she held a range of senior executive positions.
The three NHS provider organisations that make up the North East London Acute Provider Collaborative; Homerton Healthcare, Barts Health and BHRUT, recruited their chairs at the same time through a collaborative approach. The chairs for the other two Trusts will be announced in the New Year.