Deputy Director of Transformation Improvement appointed

Congratulations to Sundari Ampikaipakn, who has been appointed Deputy Director of Transformation Improvement, after a rigorous selection process.

Respiratory Consultant, Dr Sundari Ampikaipakn, who was joint Chief of Division for Medicine, has been appointed Deputy Director of Transformation Improvement. She will start her new role in the new year.

Her main focus will be on delivering the priorities of the Trust with regards to virtual care, frailty and elective recovery.

“From the start of my career, I have believed that excellence in medicine is achieved when we place patients at the heart of everything that we do. Efficiency follows when care is delivered effectively and transformation is the culmination of these endeavours to deliver real and measurable change,” said Sundari.

She added: “Assistive technology is reshaping how we deliver care to patients and with it ushering a new era of healthcare for Norfolk and Waveney. I look forward to working with colleagues and system partners to make that vision a reality.”

Sundari originally trained with us, before returning to her home city of Kuala Lumpur in 2011 as one of the first “returning experts” after the Malaysian government put out feelers to entice their experts back following a brain drain.

In Malaysia, Sundari was a respiratory consultant where she helped develop the first private sector “lung centre.” She was instrumental in establishing the first private-sector antimicrobial stewardship programme and co-founded Asthma Malaysia, a national Non-Government Organisation (NGO) promoting excellence in asthma management and patient empowerment in asthma care. She led the development of the National Pulmonary Hypertension Programme for the Ministry of Health, Malaysia.

Two years after returning to the NHS and NNUH in 2019, Sundari was appointed as a substantive respiratory consultant. She was service director in respiratory medicine before going onto become chief of division for medicine. Sundari is also a passionate advocate of our Virtual Ward, speaking at international conferences about it and building international networks with other healthcare systems that have wanted to learn more about virtual wards.

She has collaborated with the ICB (Integrated Care Board) to pilot projects such as the Dereham Community Respiratory Pilot to see how we can start moving patient care closer to home and within NNUH, introduced group CPAP clinics in sleep medicine and respiratory admission avoidance pathways within the virtual ward.

“My passion has always been around innovation in patient care and doing the best we can for every patient. There is a wealth of talent at NNUH, we have outstanding healthcare professionals who are committed to delivering care at the highest level. We have colleagues who are always looking for ways to improve, never standing still and intent on making this hospital the best that it can be. I look forward to working alongside them.”