One of NHS’s top chairs to stand down
One of the NHS’s most influential chairs is standing down after over a decade in post at a large teaching hospital trust.
Dame Linda Pollard, who co-authored a recent government-commissioned review on NHS leadership, has announced she will stand down as Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust chair next year.
Her exact departure date, and what she will do next, is yet to be confirmed.
A trust statement said: “During her time at Leeds, Dame Linda has led on many national projects, including the Messenger and Pollard NHS Leadership Review alongside General Sir Gordon Messenger and the development of the Health and Care Hub in Leeds alongside Sir Chris Wormold, [the Department for Health and Social Care] permanent secretary.”
Her report with Sir Gordon recommended a single set of “core leadership and management standards” for NHS managers and was published in 2022.
The statement added: “Dame Linda is credited with steering the organisation through an impressive turnaround. Under her leadership, the trust has moved from requires improvement to a good CQC rating, improved staff engagement to some of the highest levels and brought the trust back into financial surplus.”
The trust said it would begin a recruitment process for her replacement “shortly”.
She holds other influential roles including chairing the city’s Health and Wellbeing Board and Leeds Innovation District Partnership, a collaboration between the NHS, local councils and universities. She has also been a non-executive director of NHS Providers since 2019.
Dame Linda, who has worked in the NHS for 30 years and held a number of other top roles in business and academia, said she was “extremely sorry” to be leaving the post.
She said: “The NHS is facing some of its toughest challenges yet, but I am hopeful that clear focus from the new government and the creation of the NHS Plan will bring about the new and innovative approaches needed to get the service back to where it needs to be.”
She added that her tenure at Leeds was the “highlight of my career” and she “enjoyed every second” of her time there.
In 2020, she was recognised with damehood in the Queen’s honours for her services to healthcare and efforts to address the under representation of women in senior roles across corporate Britain and in public services.