Reflections on My First Month as Chair of South London and Maudsley
By Jane Bailey, Chair, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
As I reach the end of my first month as the new Chair of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, I’ve been reflecting on the many inspiring people I’ve met and the services I have seen so far. I’ve been to Lambeth, Bethlem and Maudsley hospitals, visiting forensic, CAMHS and inpatient services as well as the Place of Safety. I have learned a lot in just four weeks, and wanted to thank everyone I have talked to for their warm welcome. I will continue going out as much as I can across our four boroughs, and my next focus is on meeting community teams.
One of the highlights of my first month was attending the Long Service Awards at the Maudsley Hospital Garden. It was a truly moving occasion, celebrating colleagues who have dedicated 25 years of continuous service to the NHS. Their commitment and resilience are the foundation of our Trust’s legacy. We also recognised four exceptional nursing colleagues - Amos Aderinkola, Tracey McIntosh, Susan Andrews-Bligh, and Yvonne Roberts - who received the Chief Nursing Officer Support Worker Excellence Awards for their outstanding patient care. Their stories were a powerful reminder of the impact that compassionate, person-centred care can have on individuals and families.
Colleagues have been open with me about the fact that many of our services operate in a challenging environment, with high demand and financial pressures. I want to keep learning about how our Trust is addressing these challenges, what we can do better together, and how we can keep working towards improving patient care. I have heard your call to simplify things and focus on what matters most: our service users.
I have started meeting with other mental health Trusts to discuss what our priorities should be and how we can work more closely together to shape the future. In the context of the upcoming Government's 10-year plan for the NHS, as well as the evolving needs of our communities, it is a pivotal moment for us to build on our strengths, address the challenges we face, and streamline our priorities to focus on delivering high-quality, equitable, and innovative mental health care.
I bring from my commercial background, and my experience as Vice Chair of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, a rigorous focus on evidence-based decision-making processes. By using data more efficiently, and building relationships across the system, we can better define what good care looks like and how we need to deliver it.
As your new Chair, my role is now to lead, support and challenge the Board to ensure we are delivering on our mission to improve mental health care. I’m committed to listening, learning, and working collaboratively with all of you—our staff, service users, carers, and partners—to create a great place to work and care.
Thank you again for the warm welcome. There is much to be proud of and looking ahead, I’m excited about the future of our Trust.
Jane Bailey
Joanne Adewole Clinical Service Lead, Jane Bailey Chair, David Bradley Chief Executive, Olusegun Ogunde AL1 ward manager, Vanessa Smith Chief Nurse, Manhal Zarroug Consultant on AL1
