Two new non-executive directors join the Board of Directors

Emma Duncan will join the Board of Directors with immediate effect. John Pelly will join from 1 January 2017, when Robert Drummond will step down from the Board to develop his work as the independent chairman leading the Trust’s commercial activities.

Emma has been appointed to replace Diane Summers, who stood down in June after serving two terms as a Non-Executive Director. Following Diane's departure, Non-Executive Director Sheila Shribman will take up the role of Vice Chairman. A third appointment will be announced in due course.

The appointments were approved at a full meeting of the Trust's Council of Governors, which includes elected representatives of patients, members of the public and staff.

Emma Duncan was Deputy Editor of The Economist for ten years and is now editor of 1843 Magazine, a sister publication to the Economist, which she set up and which has a circulation of 470,000. She is also a visiting fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford.

John Pelly will be known to many at Guy's and St Thomas' as he was both Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer at the Trust before becoming Chief Executive of Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust in Greenwich and, from 2008, Chief Executive of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Sir Hugh Taylor, Chairman of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust, said: "We look forward to welcoming these new Non-Executives to the Trust. Their wide ranging collective knowledge and expertise will strengthen and complement the skills of the Board at a very challenging time for the NHS.

“Both the internal and external agenda faced by the Trust are very significant as we cope with a rapidly changing health system and regulatory environment, as well as unparalleled growth in demand for our services.

“Through a strong and effective Board we will continue to be able to play a leadership role in the NHS locally and more widely. We will also continue to benefit from Robert Drummond's commercial expertise, whilst ensuring that we adopt best practice in terms of making the governance of our commercial activities more independent.

“My thanks go to Diane Summers for eight years exceptional service as a Non-Executive Director, and also as Vice Chairman since summer 2014. Diane has made a significant contribution to many areas of the Trust, and has ensured that we are fully focused on the needs of our patients.”

Emma Duncan is the former deputy editor of The Economist and is current editor of that publication’s sister magazine, 1843. She writes regularly for The Times and occasionally for a wide range of other publications. She has been a non-executive director of Lancashire Holdings Limited, a FTSE-250 insurance company, for six years, is a visiting fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford, and is a trustee of the George Orwell Trust.

John Pelly qualified as an accountant in 1978 and spent the early part of his career in the commercial sector, notably with Rank Xerox Ltd. where he held a number of financial management and marketing positions.

He joined the NHS in 1990 as Finance Director of West Lambeth Health Authority, becoming Finance Director of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust on the two hospitals’ merger in 1993. John was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust in 1998, where he remained until 2004 when he took up the position of Chief Executive of Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust in south London.

After four years there John was appointed Chief Executive of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in early 2008, a position he held until his retirement from the NHS in November 2015. John was awarded an OBE in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours.