New Trust Chief Executive ‘returns’ to her home town and county
Some Background
Christine Allen is currently the Chief Executive at James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. During her five years in this role, she led the trust towards its first overall CQC rating of ‘good’, followed by a second ‘good’ rating which was announced just last week. Prior to that, Ms Allen held various Board level roles at Northampton General Hospital, including acting chief executive, chief operating officer and director of strategy.
During her 30-plus years in the NHS, she has also led service transformation and held senior positions in business development and IT. She will take up her role in early March.
Professor Steve Barnett, Chair of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust commented:
"Finding experienced hospital Chief Executives is far from easy which makes securing someone of Christine’s calibre an incredible achievement and fantastic news for staff and patients.
She is going to be a great addition to our well-established leadership team. Christine’s record in leading trusts to achieve improved national ratings speaks for itself. Likewise, our staff continue to be driven by a passion to provide the very best care for every patient, every day. With their commitment and Christine’s reputation for success, our future is looking very healthy."
I am delighted to be joining the strong leadership team at West Herts. I have been impressed by how hard staff have worked to make significant and sustained improvements. I look forward to supporting the leadership team to manage the challenges that the high demand for its services brings and getting involved in plans to transform the estate. And, on top of this, as I was born in Watford, it will feel like ‘coming home’.
Until Ms Allen takes up her appointment, Helen Brown – who was previously the trust’s deputy chief executive – will continue in the role of acting Chief Executive, which she has held since June this year.
Congratulations to Christine, we wish you the best of luck, and look forward to working with you.
