'Experienced leader' steps into helm of NHS organisation running Wigan's mental health services

Karen Howell will join Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) in June from Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, following a career spanning almost 45 years in the NHS.

She is a registered nurse and was awarded an OBE in 2023 for services to healthcare, having made major contributions to the NHS, including leading large and complex organisations across acute, secondary, community mental health and primary care services.

Tony Warne, the trust’s chairman, said: “Karen will be brilliant for us and, together, we will take forward our improvement journey at pace. She brings oodles of experience and is committed to collaboration with service users, their families and communities, in pursuit of providing high-quality services and promoting pride amongst colleagues.

“Her background, the understanding she has of us and the work we need to do, and the way she showed she’ll collaborate with people to drive us towards a shared success impressed me and those she met through the process.

“We’re excited she’ll join us at such a key period as we build on our strengths and learn from the challenges of the last couple of years to create an organisation that is both a great place for colleagues to work and provides outstanding mental health and addiction support for those we serve.”

Ms Howell said: “As an experienced leader in the NHS, I am proud to have the responsibility to lead and support the trust and its workforce to respond to the recommendations of the Shanley Report and support the organisation to excel in the quality of care it offers to the diverse populations it serves.

“The challenges ahead are matched with opportunity to make the most of Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust’s considerable strengths and foster a new pride and ambition for the people of Greater Manchester.

“I look forward to working with the board of directors, staff, service users and partners to hone a clear vision and ambition, in which the trust will be recognised as a provider of high-quality outcome focused services and a high-performing and inclusive employer.”

Ms Howell has previously worked in leadership positions across Cheshire, Merseyside and NHS Wales, and has led change in national policy for mental health and community services.

She jointly led Wirral’s response to the first repatriation of UK citizens from Wuhan, China, in early 2020 at the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

More recently, she has been working with NHS England as national CEO advisor on community services.

Her appointment follows the resignation of former chief executive Neil Thwaite last year, just months after undercover filming by the BBC’s Panorama programme at the Edenfield Centre, in Prestwich, Bury, and the departure of the trust’s chairman Rupert Nichols.

GMMH’s services in Wigan borough include Atherleigh Park in Leigh, mental health care, children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), autistic spectrum disorder diagnostic services and support for young people with eating disorders.