Mike Bell announced as dual NHS chair of two South London trusts
Mike Bell announced as dual NHS chair of two South London trusts
The Chair of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust is to take up a new additional role at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, to lead continued improvements in health services in South West and South East London.
Mike Bell has more than 25 years’ experience in the NHS, including more than a decade serving Strategic Health Authorities in senior leadership roles. He has also helped to shape hospital and community services at NHS Trusts in the capital to deliver higher quality care and help lead reforms to look after the health and care of local communities.
Croydon Health Services is a forerunner in integration, joining-up the care and support available across the NHS, social care and voluntary groups to help more people live and stay well. It has also helped to safely care for 25,000 people since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of a coordinated response across south London to reduce waits for planned surgery and treatment.
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust is now rated as “good” or “outstanding” in over three quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission, with further improvements planned through an ambitious five-year strategy, “Caring for our local communities.” The Trust provides many specialist services, including the third largest sickle cell centre in the country. The Trust also achieved international fame in 2015 when the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Choir reached the Christmas Number One spot in the UK music charts with charity single ‘A Bridge Over You.’
Mike Bell said:
“This is a fantastic opportunity and I am delighted to be joining in the team at Lewisham and Greenwich. I’m honoured to have the chance to continue improvements in health and care on both sides of south London.
“The NHS is going through radical changes, after what has been a tempestuous few years for everyone since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The response from NHS workers, on and off the frontline, has been both humbling and phenomenal throughout this period. I could not be prouder to be the Chair of two such fantastic trusts that have been at the very forefront of our COVID response, but also our continued recovery.”
Over the past nine years since joining Croydon Health Services, Mike has helped lead the Trust out of financial special measures and has held the Trust Board to account to deliver continued improvements in the quality and access to care in and out of hospital.
In 2020/21, Mike also served as Chairman of Barking Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust. He has also championed ‘placed based care’ to help breakdown organisational barriers between professional teams to provide more coordinated services for local people and tackle health inequalities in London boroughs.
He will remain the chair at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust and will begin his dual role at Lewisham and Greenwich Hospitals NHS Trust on 25 July 2022.
Profile of Mike Bell
Mike has been Chairman of Croydon Health Services since 2013, and has helped to deliver continued improvements in our care and performance and shape our plans for the future.
Croydon is at the forefront of place-based health care integration with a ground-breaking partnership between the NHS, local authority and the voluntary sector.
Mike is the director of a research and consultancy company, MBARC Ltd, which works with central and local government and the NHS on issues relating to social exclusion, specialising in working with marginalised communities.
Mike is also currently the Chair of the NHS London Chairs and Non-Executive Directors Anchor Network.