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Published
3 February 2022

Two North East London Trusts Agree to a Joint Chair

East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) and our neighbouring North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) have agreed to set up a process to appoint a joint chair.
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Brand Illustration ELFT Corporate dark blue

This follows the recent appointment of our chair Mark Lam to North Middlesex University Hospital Trust and a vacancy also arising in NELFT.

Both councils of governors (CoGs) have been exploring the benefits of an arrangement and a final decision to take things forward was taken by ELFT CoG last night (February 3rd) following earlier agreement from NELFT’s CoG.

The two trusts have been working closely for some time as a provider collaborative across north east London with some notable successes, including:

Our CAMHS collaborative, which has been up and running only a year, has reduced inpatient admissions by 30%, reduced length of stay by 40%, reduced admissions for children with autism by 50% and out of area placements are down 70%

Joint working between our two trusts means we respond better to mental health emergencies in A&E and have significantly reduced12-hour breaches in North East London

There are many more examples of collaborative working, especially during the COVID pandemic.

ELFT Chief Executive Paul Calaminus said: "This is about continuing to develop strong and vibrant collaboration between our two Trusts. One of the insights during COVID has been seeing all the skills and abilities we have between us working alongside each other to improve services for patients.

"The appointment of a joint chair for the two trusts is a natural progression from that collaborative work and will make that close co-operation and planning even more effective, bringing benefits for the people of north east London."

There will continue to be two independent Boards for each trust and two sets of governors but with a one person occupying the chair of both trusts.
That means each trust will continue to be accountable to local people through their governors and the scrutiny of locally elected representatives.

The process for appointing a chair will now begin and, if successful, the incumbent is expected to be in place in the Spring