King's Lynn Queen Elizabeth Hospital's NHS Trust appoints Chris Lawrence as new substantive chairman
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital's NHS Trust has appointed a new substantive chairman.
Chris Lawrence has been appointed to the QEH NHS Foundation Trust’s role, and will now lead its board of directors and council of governors.
Mr Lawrence, who lives in Norfolk, has experience with careers in the NHS, private and charitable sectors which have spanned over four decades.
He has served as a non-executive director at the West Suffolk Hospital NHS Foundation Trust since 2021, prior to which he completed two full terms as chair of Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust.
During his time at the latter, it was rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission and named Health Service Journal’s Mental Health Trust of the Year.
More of Mr Lawrence's previous roles include managing director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as senior positions at banking firms such as Lloyds, Citicorp, and Rothschild..
He said: “I consider myself as an East Anglian man, having lived in Norfolk for over 20 years, as well as having seen the development of NHS services across the region.
“My decade of experience in the NHS in chair and non-executive roles has given me much insight into the NHS locally and nationally.
"I am very much looking forward to leading the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the next stage of its hugely exciting journey, as we look to build on our recent Care Quality Commission success, further improve patient and staff experience, secure a new hospital and work more closely across the integrated care systems in Norfolk and Waveney, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire for the benefit of our patients and the communities we serve.”
Mr Lawrence will take over as chair from Graham Ward on October 31, Mr Ward has been acting chair at the QEH since April of this year.
The QEH’s lead governor, Esme Corner, said: “We are delighted to be appointing a chair of Chris’s calibre and we look forward to benefitting from his vast experience in the NHS, in the charity sector, and in the commercial sector.
“With strong foundations in place, our task now is to sustain and build on our recent successes and work to see QEH moving from ‘Requires Improvement’ to a CQC ‘Good’ rated hospital.
"Chris is very well equipped to lead QEH in the next phase of our improvement journey, so that we can move even closer to achieving our vision of being the best rural district general hospital for patient and staff experience.
“I would also like to pay tribute and thank Graham Ward for his significant contributions over the last seven months. Graham’s commitment and leadership has ensured continuity and focus during this period, for which we are grateful.”
Mr Lawrence's appointment as substantive chair was approved by the QEH Trust’s council of governors at its meeting on October 5, following a recruitment process involving governors, external stakeholders, system partners and leaders, staff and the hospital’s regulator.
