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Appointment of chairman at West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust

Posted: 27 February 2020

Phil Townsend - the newly appointed chairman of West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Phil Townsend - the newly appointed chairman of West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust – is already very much in the driving seat, having been interim chairman for a year and vice-chairman for the previous five.

The appointment builds on the stability of the board which has more than 170 years’ collective service at the organisation.

Chief executive Christine Allen said: "This is great news and will be welcomed by our leadership team and staff across the trust. Phil takes a deep interest in the organisation and is known for getting out and about to meet our staff and patients. I’m delighted that we will continue to benefit from his genuine commitment and the insight he brings from his successful career in industry."

Phil, who has over 30 years’ experience leading highly complex system change and business transformation projects, lives in St Albans and is a firm fan of Watford FC.

He said: "I’m thrilled to be appointed. It has been a privilege to lead this amazing organisation and to see it continue to thrive. Over the last few years we have been taken out of special measures, improved our staff survey results, been praised for progress in our emergency and urgent care, and have won numerous awards. On top of that, we have secured a pledge of £400m for a transformative hospital redevelopment programme which will bring huge benefits for our patients and staff."

Ends

Notes to editors

  1. For more information, please contact the communications team on: 01923 436280 or email: westherts.communications@nhs.net. For out of hours media enquiries please call the Watford General Hospital switchboard on 01923 244366 and ask for the on call communications manager.
  2. West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves people from across Hertfordshire, north London and further afield. It operates from three hospitals; Watford General, St Albans City and Hemel Hempstead. The trust has a catchment area of over 500,000 people and is one of the largest employers locally, with around 5,000 staff and volunteers.
  3. For more information about our hospitals, visit www.westhertshospitals.nhs.uk. You can also join our followers on Twitter (twitter.com/westhertsNHS) and find us on Facebook (facebook.com/westhertsNHS).