New Chair appointed to lead mental health trust into the future
A new chair has been appointed to lead South West Yorkshire Mental Health Trust.
Joyce has previously worked in general nursing, paediatric nursing and midwifery and has an MA in Ethics. She also previously served on a Community Health Council and on the former Calderdale and Kirklees Health Authority.
Joyce has lived in Todmorden for 30 years, is a school governor and an active member of the Calderdale Citizen’s Advice Bureau Trustee Board. She also sits as a trustee member of national Citizen’s Advice and works regionally for them.
South West Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trust (SWYMHT) is the main provider of mental health services and specialist health services for people with a learning disability for Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield district and is also a major provider of NHS medium secure services for people with mental health problems and learning disabilities for the Yorkshire region. The Trust serves a local population of 900,000 people and has an income of approximately £100 million.
The announcement of Joyce’s appointment to SWYMHT comes as the Trust embarks on the next stage of its journey towards becoming an NHS Foundation Trust. The Trust is currently applying to become authorised as a Foundation Trust which will give local people more say over the future development of the services it is responsible for.
The Chair of the Trust is responsible for leading the organisation through a Trust Board made up of Non-Executive and Executive Directors and ensuring it provides good quality health services within the resources available. Once the Trust is authorised as a Foundation Trust, the Chair will also preside over the Members’ Council, which advises the Board on behalf of the membership through elected representatives of the public and staff members. The appointment will be for an initial period of four years. Once the Trust is authorised as a Foundation Trust any subsequent re-appointment would be subject to approval by the Members’ Council.
Joyce said, "I am delighted to be joining an established, quality and ambitious team at SWYMHT. There has been real improvement in mental health services since SWYMHT was formed in 2002 and I look forward to working with the Board as we do our utmost for the people of Wakefield, Kirklees and Calderdale. I will be sorry to leave my colleagues at Calderdale Primary Care Trust as I have thoroughly enjoyed my five and half years as Chair. I know that all the staff and the board at the PCT will continue to work hard to be a world class commissioning organisation to improve the health and lives of people in Calderdale."
Trust Chief Executive Steven Michael said, "Joyce joins the Trust at a particularly exciting and challenging time as we progress towards becoming a Foundation Trust. Joyce has a strong track record of empowering local people to influence the development of health services and of working in partnership with other organisations, both of which will be critical to our effectiveness in the future. Joyce is also deeply committed to driving the development of mental health and learning disability services and will be a real asset to the Trust Board."
Chief executive of Calderdale Primary Care Trust, Rob Webster said, "Joyce always strives to put the patient at the heart of everything we do. Her passion for doing what’s right for the people of Calderdale and her excellent leadership of the Board has helped drive the PCT over the past five and a half years. She leaves us in a good place and I am sure she will be a real asset to SWYMHT. On behalf of all of us at the PCT, I wish her success in her new role."