Chair of NHS property quango returning to Australia

The chair of an NHS estates quango has announced she will be stepping down this summer. 

Jane Hamilton will be leaving NHS Property Services to return to Australia. She has been in charge since 2021.

The organisation owns and manages 2,700 properties – around 10 per cent of the health service’s estate – including GP practices and community hospitals. 

Ms Hamilton said: “Having spent 15 brilliant years living and working in the UK, I am conscious that my family in Australia are growing up quickly.”

She said it felt like the “right time to hand over the reins” as her three-year term ended at the organisation, which is owned by the Department of Health and Social Care. 

Ms Hamilton, who is also a non-executive director at the Government Property Agency, will remain in post at NHSPS until the end of July 2024 while a replacement is recruited.

NHSPS inherited properties after primary care trusts were abolished in 2013. Many of its tenants originally did not have lease agreements with the body and disputed its charges. This resulted in a legal battle with GPs, which NHSPS won. 

Martin Steele, NHSPS chief executive, told HSJ last year the organisation had been more similar to a “hard-nosed” landlord when set up but claimed it had since moved away from this position.