Lincolnshire NHS mental health trust appoints new chief executive

Bringing 18 years’ of working in the NHS and more recent experience as acting chief executive for Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT), the Trust has announced Sarah Connery as its new chief executive.

Sarah has been acting chief executive at the Trust since October 2020 and has now been officially appointed following a national NHS executive search.

Kevin Lockyer, chairman at LPFT said: “She has done an outstanding job as both acting chief executive and the Trust’s previous Director of Finance and Information. Sarah made a great impression with the panel of staff, governors and other stakeholders involved in the assessment and interview process.

“I am looking forward to working with Sarah as we continue to improve our services and work with health and care partners to deliver high quality, sustainable services for the future.”

During her time with the Trust, Sarah has been a strong advocate for mental health, learning disability and autism services and has demonstrated a successful track record in leading services and collaborating with partners to deliver new services and transformational change. Some of Sarah’s achievements include reducing the need for out of area care for mental health patients in Lincolnshire, significant investment in new patient environments and most recently the Trust being shortlisted as Mental Health Trust of the Year in the national Health Service Journal Awards.

Sarah Connery said: “I have been honoured to serve as the acting chief executive, leading the organisation through the pandemic response and some significant service transformations.

“I am delighted to have now been substantively appointed to this role so that I can continue to lead the organisation to deliver its vision to support people to live well in their communities.

“I am so proud and extremely grateful for how our people have worked together to continue to provide services for our patients through some very pressured circumstances.

“The pandemic response has demonstrated that health and care services in Lincolnshire can deliver so much more for our population if we work together in partnership - with the service user at the heart of everything we do.

“I am looking forward to continuing to work with my system colleagues to deliver even better patient care in the future.”