New non-executive director announced
A new non-executive director, Dr Claire Fernandez, has been appointed at our hospital Trust.
Claire, who is also a non-executive director on the board of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, joins the Trust with significant experience in project delivery and strategy working across universities, research organisations, industry and the NHS. For the last three years, Claire has also been an associate non-executive director at NNUH as a member of the Quality and Safety Committee.
Tom Spink, Chair of NNUH, said: “I am delighted to welcome Claire to the Trust Board. Her experience in research and her passion for delivering high-quality care to improve patient outcomes will be of enormous value to the Trust, and across our acute partners.”
Claire has a background in academic science and carried out research at Cambridge and Oxford research institutes for 10 years in the fields of immunology, haematology and oncology. She was awarded a DPhil from the University of Oxford University for stem cell research in 2007. Following her academic research career, Claire moved into clinical trial delivery and progressed into research management and strategy roles. Her career has involved creating and coordinating programmes of work to maximise research knowledge, widen access to clinical treatments, and improve patient outcomes.
Claire was born in Norwich and grew up in a small village in North Norfolk. She returned to Norfolk in 2017 and now lives in Norwich with her three children.
She said: “I am delighted to progress from my role as an associate non-executive at NNUH to join the Trust Board as a non-executive director. I am excited to work with wider leadership at NNUH at this pivotal time to support our staff and improve the care we provide for our patients.”
Prof Lesley Dwyer, NNUH Chief Executive, said: “We’d like to welcome Claire to our Board and we are excited to work with her at a time when we will be working much more closely with our acute partners in Norfolk and Waveney and to expand our research endeavours to improve patient care.”
The appointment was made by the Trust’s Council of Governors.