Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group to hold inaugural Board meeting
Norfolk and Waveney’s new University Hospitals Group will hold its inaugural Board meeting on Wednesday 17 December 2025, marking a major step forward in delivering acute healthcare for our population.
This meeting ends the interim transition period and represents the official launch of the new Hospitals Group. It brings together, under unified leadership and strategic direction, the three acute hospitals in Norfolk and Waveney:
- The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust,
- The James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (which includes Cromer Hospital and Jenny Lind Children’s Hospital).
The Group Board is led by David Roberts, Interim Group Chair, and Prof Lesley Dwyer Group Chief Executive.
Group Chair David Roberts said: “This first meeting of our Group Board marks a major step forward for acute healthcare in Norfolk and Waveney and I am delighted that we have secured such experienced and highly skilled Board members. We start from a challenging position, and there is much to do, but the Group’s formation is a significant and exciting opportunity to improve services for our patients and our population.”
“Our focus for the next two to five years is clear: act swiftly to tackle challenges including waiting lists and build strong foundations for delivering high-quality, sustainable care and better, fairer outcomes for patients.”
This means:
- Turning around poor performance to deliver faster, better care and sustaining that improvement.
- Working with partners to shape an ambitious new model of acute clinical care in Norfolk and Waveney, aligned with the Government’s NHS 10-year Plan which includes care closer to home wherever possible, greater use of digital technology and more integrated care in neighbourhoods. Importantly, this will also guide the future role of all our hospitals, including the new hospitals planned for King’s Lynn and Gorleston.”
Group Chief Executive Prof Lesley Dwyer added: “As people will know, while we have many examples of excellence in care and innovation across our hospitals, dedicated staff and some award-winning services, ours is a challenged acute healthcare system. There are significant and well-publicised performance issues in each of our hospitals to varying degrees. As a result, all of our hospitals are currently in the bottom tier of the National Oversight Framework for NHS performance. We are determined to change that.”
“The issues we face are deep seated and long lasting. Despite best efforts, action by individual hospital trusts acting on their own have not achieved the improvements our patients and population need and deserve.
As a Hospitals Group, we are better placed to take the strategic decisions necessary to transform and improve services faster and ensure they are acted upon, always with the focus on delivering consistently better outcomes for our patients. By taking these actions at Group level, we free up more space and time for each of our hospital teams to focus on improving operational performance and integrating services more closely with their primary, community and neighbourhood colleagues.”
The Group Board meeting takes place at 9.30am on Wednesday 17 December.
Members of the public are welcome to observe the Group Board meeting using Microsoft Teams. A joining link is available on request from the Group Board mailbox
Email Nwuhgroupboardmeetings@nnuh.nhs.uk
Questions from members of the public must be submitted in writing at least 48 hours before the meeting to enable a considered response.
For more information, visit Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group – Welcome to the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group