The Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust Board holds legal accountability for the Trust, including Evelina London Women's and Children's Clinical Group.
Evelina London Women's and Children's Clinical Group is one of four clinical groups within the Trust.
As a clinical group our leadership team has formally devolved responsibility for services for women, children and young people, and has a significant degree of delegated authority.
We organise ourselves into five clinical directorates which have their own management teams:
- Children’s Medicine and Neonatology
- Children’s Surgery, Theatres and Anaesthesia
- Children’s Cardio-respiratory and Intensive Care
- Children’s Community Services
- Women’s Services
Find out more about our services for women and children.
The Evelina London Women's and Children's Clinical Group Board
Our Board provides assurance to the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Board on the operational, quality and safety and financial performance of the clinical group. Although it is not a formal decision making body it is able to take decisions through the collective authority of its members.
The role of our Board is to:
- Monitor operational, quality and safety, and financial performance.
- Ensure the clinical group is operating within the Trust's strategic and operational framework
- Monitor key risks and issues
- Provide external advice and independent challenge.
- Make sure that the experience of our patients and families is central to our decision making
- Dr Sheila Shribman CBE (Chair), Non-executive Director and Deputy Chair of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Board
- Avey Bhatia, Chief Nurse and Executive Director on the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Board
- Steven Davies, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director on the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Board
- Dr Javed Khan OBE, Non-executive Director on both the Evelina London and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Boards
- Dr Ingrid Wolfe, Director, King's Health Partners Women and Children’s Clinical Academic Programme
Non-executive advisors provide external oversight with the specialist knowledge and expertise to help inform the Board’s decision making.
Jo worked in fashion retail and management before taking a career break to have her two daughters, Melissa (24) and Cissy (18). When Jo was 20 weeks pregnant with Cissy, she was sent to Guy’s Hospital for a fetal echocardiogram following a routine antenatal scan. Her families’ world changed forever when their unborn baby was diagnosed with a serious, complex heart condition. Cissy was born at Guy’s Hospital in August 1999. She went on to have heart surgery in 2000 and again in 2001.
When Cissy was a baby, Jo felt very isolated and sought out other families who understood the fear and uncertainty that having a baby with a serious health problem brings. This led her to join ECHO (Evelina Children’s Heart Organisation), a charity set up to enable parents with ‘heart babies’ to support each other. After first becoming a Trustee, then the Chair of Trustees, Jo was appointed Chief Executive of the charity. As ECHO grew, Jo steered the charity through incorporation to become a charity limited by guarantee, ensuring a sustainable, robust and secure future for the charity and the families it supports.
Cissy became critically ill after heart surgery in 2010 and spent four months in intensive care. Jo witnessed first-hand the amazing efforts of staff who fought to keep Cissy alive and to get her accepted onto the heart transplant waiting list, all whilst keeping up the spirits of her family. She was eventually the recipient of a new heart in September 2010, aged 11, at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. The nature of Cissy’s very complex health issues has meant treatment by many different specialisms at Evelina London, and even other hospitals, including orthopaedics, physiotherapy, plastic surgery, ear, nose and throat services (ENT), kidney transplant services, oncology and, not surprisingly, psychology. She has recently transitioned from paediatric to adolescent/adult care, which brings with it new challenges.
Jo’s experience has given her a unique insight into the challenges faced by parents of children with multiple health conditions and how other hospitals work, and this has confirmed to her how special Evelina London really is.
Jacqueline is a clinician of national and international repute in the field of paediatric leukaemia and stem cell transplant, with a strong research and teaching record, and a 20 year history of senior medical management at a NHS University Teaching Hospital Trust. From 2013 until recently, she was National Clinical Director Children, Young People and Transition to Adulthood, Medical Directorate, NHS England, with a remit to provide specialist clinical advice and leadership for this population in the following respects: drive transformation of services for children and young people, support the commissioning of services, support the development of policy and maintain parliamentary accountability.
Jacqueline has over 35 years of delivery of front-line care to children with cancer and leukaemia, and was instrumental in setting up the stem cell transplant service at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. She has presented many times to the previous Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, on neonatal, infant and child mortality in this country and children’s cancer.
Jacqueline sits on a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) Board overseeing 10 state-maintained schools including a school for autistic pupils. This is managed by the Society of Merchant Venturer’s of Bristol, of which she is a Member.
She has extensive experience of working cross-sector at Government, policy and multiple organisation level, including the voluntary/charitable sector, local authority, Royal Colleges, patient, family and carer groups, arm’s length bodies and commissioners of health and care.
- Marian Ridley, Chief Executive
- Dr Sara Hanna, Medical Director
- Janet Powell, Director of Nursing
- James O’Brien, Director of Operations and Improvement
- Jonathan Head, Director of Workforce
- Sarah Henderson, Director of Strategy
- Gina Brockwell, Chief Midwife
- Hazel Childs, Head of Finance
- Andi Ttofa, Head of Communications
- Charlotte Dunn, Chief of Staff
The Evelina London Women's and Children's Clinical Group Executive Committee
The Executive Committee has overall responsibility for ensuring the safety, quality, effectiveness and financial sustainability of all our services for women, children, young people and their families. It is the most senior level decision making committee within the clinical group.
The role our Executive Committee is to:
- Oversee the strategic and operational management of the clinical group.
- Provide assurance to the Evelina London Women's and Children's Clinical Group Board.
There are seven sub-committees which are authorised to make decisions on matters referred by the Executive Committee. These sub-committees cover topics such as: operations, people, resource and investment, patient experience, clinical governance, research and innovation and equality, diversity and inclusion.
- Marian Ridley, Chief Executive (Chair)
- Dr Sara Hanna, Medical Director
- Janet Powell, Director of Nursing
- Gina Brockwell, Chief Midwife
- James O’Brien, Director of Operations and Improvement
- Jonathan Head, Director of Workforce
- Sarah Henderson, Director of Strategy
- Hazel Childs, Head of Finance
- Andi Ttofa, Head of Communications
- Charlotte Dunn, Chief of Staff
- Dr Bidisha Lahoti, Clinical Director, Children’s Community Services
- Dr Claire Lemer, Clinical Director, Children’s Medicine and Neonatology
- Owen Miller, Joint Clinical Director, Children’s Cardio-respiratory and Intensive Care
- Alain Fraissé, Joint Clinical Director, Children’s Cardio-respiratory and Intensive Care
- Jan Grace, Clinical Director, Women’s Services
- Lance Tooke, Clinical Director, Children's Surgery, Theatres and Anaesthesia