We are delighted to announce the appointment of our new Management Board Chair, Judy Hargadon OBE. Judy is a non-executive director with NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, where she takes the lead lay role for primary care and prevention. She previously chaired the Cornwall Advisory Panel as a non-executive member of the University of Exeter Council; roles which build on her NHS career in Human Resources and Healthcare Management.
Judy has served as CEO of both a Health Authority and an NHS Trust. A champion of change for improvement, she has led innovative projects in community engagement on service change, hospital bed use, integrated neighbourhood care, and primary care. As Director of the New Ways of Working & Children for the NHS Modernisation Agency, Judy led programmes to focus the NHS workforce on the needs of patients. As Chief Executive of the School Food Trust/Children’s Food Trust, she led the national programme to improve the quality of school meals after the Jamie Oliver TV exposé. She has volunteered at a practical and Board level with a number of charities and was awarded an OBE for Services to Children’s Welfare in 2011.
Director of PenARC Prof Stuart Logan said: “We are absolutely delighted that Judy has agreed to chair our Management Board. She really knows the NHS and brings a wealth of experience in healthcare management and innovation in working practices, along with an understanding of the benefits of good communication. These are more prescient than ever as we face new challenges to address the health and social care issues facing our communities. We look forward enormously to working with her.”
Judy said: “I am delighted to have been offered this role. It’s essential that the care we deliver as staff in the NHS, local authorities and the voluntary sector is effective and improves the lives of those we serve. I’ve relied heavily on research evidence for the change programmes I have led. Ensuring that research is designed to support improving care, and then presented to staff in a way that is accessible and easy to adopt, is key to success. I’m impressed with how much the PenARC team and colleagues have produced on a relatively small budget.”
Judy has also worked internationally as a member of the International Joint Learning Initiative, reporting in 2004 to the World Health Organisation on worldwide health care workforce futures, and in an ongoing capacity with colleagues in the USA, following on from a Harkness Fellowship with the Harvard School of Public Health.