Whittington Health NHS Trust Appoints New Chief Nurse and Director of Allied Health Professions

Sarah Wilding, currently Director of Nursing for Integrated and Specialist Medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, has been appointed as the new Chief Nurse and Executive Director for Allied Health Professionals at Whittington Health NHS Trust.

Sarah takes over from Michelle Johnson MBE, who held the role since 2018. In her current role Sarah provides nursing leadership to a clinical group with circa 8,000 staff and which includes a large number of services, including all areas of acute and general medicine and integrated local services.

Sarah said:

“As someone who is passionate about integration and inclusion, I am delighted to be taking on this role, working in an organisation that does so much in these areas.

“I am looking forward to joining the Trust and getting on with the job of ensuring we provide outstanding patient care and maintain a relentless focus on staff wellbeing.”

Chair of Whittington Health NHS Trust, Baroness Julia Neuberger, said:

“Sarah’s experience leading such a large part of the nursing workforce at Guy’s and St Thomas’ made her a fantastic candidate for this role. Her experience of integrated care and commitment to professional leadership for nurses will carry on Michelle’s hard work and we are delighted we will be welcoming her to Whittington Health this summer.”

Sarah, who qualified as a nurse in 1994, has worked at Guy’s and St Thomas’ for 20 years, working in roles which covered surgery, abdominal medicine, emergency care, older persons and community nursing. She has had responsibility for adult safeguarding, professional nursing leadership and working with the Medical Director to ensure safe and effective care. She was the nursing lead for St Thomas’ Hospital and adult community services during the pandemic and has also done significant work on transforming mental health through better alignment with physical health.

With current Chief Executive Siobhan Harrington leaving Whittington Health NHS Trust to take up a new post in Dorset, it has also been announced that Carol Gillen, currently the Chief Operating Officer, will take on the role of Acting Chief Executive temporarily until Helen Brown arrives on 20 June. Dale-Charlotte Moore, currently the Deputy Chief Operating Officer, will step up to become the Acting Chief Operating Officer during this same period. Carol will be retiring in July and the process to recruit her permanent successor is already underway.