It’s an absolute privilege to become the Chair of the Board of Trustees at North London Hospice. I feel humbled to have this position having taken over from Lis Burgess-Jones. I would like to thank Lis who, for the last six years, has led the hospice through some of its most challenging times. I look forward to building on this legacy as we look to the future and I am really excited to be working with such a great team of staff, volunteers and fellow Trustees.

I have a very simple ambition for the hospice and that is that we become the best hospice in the UK. How will we know that we’ve achieved that? In my mind it’ll be when someone goes to the Department of Health and Social Care to ask for an example of an organisation that is at the cutting and leading edge of hospice care in Britain today, and they point to the staff and volunteers at the North London Hospice.

I believe we can have this ambition for three reasons. Firstly our staff and volunteers; our Chief Executive and Executive Team, are of the highest quality and motivated to deliver the best possible care.

Secondly, our Board of Trustees, are a collection of incredibly able and dedicated people, combined with our staff and volunteers, means that I don’t think we should have any excuse not to aim to be the best hospice in the UK.

The third reason is the communities we serve across Barnet, Enfield and Haringey, as well as those we provide some services to in Camden and Islington. These diverse boroughs are home to generous supporters, and this, alongside their willingness to give to hospices and palliative care being strong, means that we should be able to leverage funding over and above the statutory levels that we receive.

Contained within that is the assumption that we as a hospice aim to become rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). It’s not about always about spending more money. It’s about innovation and creativity and I’m reminded that one of the first care homes to gain outstanding status was one where the night staff wore pyjamas.

Finally, I want I would like to see the relationship between the Trustees and the Executive Team, and wider staff, become more of a dialogue/conversation. Currently I think it’s a series of interactions and whilst Trustees hold the responsibility and accountability for what happens in the hospice, we can only achieve those first two outcomes if we work together as a team. I believe in combining the skills, knowledge and expertise that lie in all of us, so that we can work together in partnership. This way, achieving our ambition is vastly increased.

All of this is to be done in an evolutionary manner as I am not revolutionary and I believe in gradual and incremental change rather than radical drastic surgery. I believe the hospice is in a really strong position and that has been created by Declan and his senior team as well as my predecessor Lis, who has recruited an excellent Board of Trustees. I hope that whilst I am privileged to hold the position of Chair, we can work together to achieve our vision, the best of life, at the end of life for everyone.