Cathy Walker appointed Chief Operating Officer

We are pleased to announce that following an open and competitive recruitment process, and with the subsequent agreement of the Trust’s Remuneration Committee and NHS England, Cathy Walker has been appointed as the Trust’s Chief Operating Officer.

Cathy has served as Interim Chief Operating Officer at CLCH since January 2022. In this time, she has overseen operational planning, management and reporting for the Trust’s five clinical divisions and has taken up the role as the organisation’s incident director. She will continue to lead in these areas in her substantive post.

Cathy had previously been a Director of Operations at the Trust, working across several of its clinical divisions and their integrated care systems. During this period, she led the mobilisation of services in the Trust’s Hertfordshire region.

She has more than 14 years of director experience within community and mental health trusts and commissioning organisations and started her NHS career as a mental health nurse.

Cathy said: “I am delighted to have been appointed substantively as the Trust’s Chief Operating Officer. During my eight years at CLCH, I have had the privilege of working with staff in our clinical and corporate services who provide and support community healthcare services across London and Hertfordshire.

“The care we provide makes a significant difference to the lives of our patients, families and service users. I look forward to enabling the Trust to manage the opportunities that come with the increased recognition of the importance of community healthcare, as well as supporting our staff and services to deliver high quality healthcare.”

James Benson, Chief Executive, said: “I am so pleased that Cathy will be joining the Trust board on a substantive basis. She has a wealth of experience and knowledge that are highly valued by our staff and will play a vital role in the operation of our community healthcare services across the four integrated care systems that we are part of.”

Cathy will take up the substantive Chief Operating Officer position from 20 March 2023.