22.01.19
Top London mental health trust reveals chief executive’s plans to retire
A top London mental health trust has announced that its chief executive will be retiring from his role later this year after “six very successful years.”
Matthew Patrick will step down from the top job at South London and Maudsley NHS FT (SLAM) in July this year after joining in 2013, citing that he wanted to reduce his working commitments.
The retiring chief executive has spent 34 years in the NHS and 12 as a trust chief executive. He previously led Tavistock and Portman FT and started out training as a psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital.
Patrick sits on numerous boards at SLAM, and contributed widely to the national mental health strategy and policy through his roles at key Royal College of Psychiatry reference groups, on the board of two Academic Health Science Centres, and as a mental health director for NHS England London Region.
He recently chaired the London Mental Health Response to Major Incidents Board, which was set up to oversee and co-ordinate London’s response to terrorist events in the capital following the London Bridge terror attack.
Roger Paffard, the chair of SLAM, called Patrick an “inspirational leader” and said the search for his successor starts immediately.
He commented: “He can feel justifiably proud of the progress this trust has made on both the national and international stage in championing mental health, and in driving clinical improvements and innovation.
“He is an outstanding chief executive, and a delight to work with. He is an inspiration to other clinicians considering a role in executive leadership.”
Paffard added that the trust had made high strides in system collaboration and partnership working in south-London during Patrick’s six-year tenure.
Patrick himself said: “It has been an absolute privilege to work for my whole professional career within the NHS, an institution that I love dearly.
“It has been a great honour to have been the chief executive of two organisations of international repute and lead such talented and committed staff who day in day out do their utmost to deliver excellent care to our patients and service users. I am making the decision now as it feels like the right time for me and my family.