Karen Kelly – Chief operating officer and deputy chief executive

Karen joined us in January 2018 from Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust where she held the post of executive director of operations.

A graduate of Keele University, Karen qualified as a nurse in 1993 and worked for more than 23 years at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire where she held a variety of roles including the first matron role for Urgent and Emergency Care before moving into managing the Directorate of Emergency Care.

Prior to joining us as a COO Karen has been involved in overseeing a range of large scale service developments and improvement projects.  She became part of the transformation team tasked with turning around Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust – becoming head of nursing there in 2010.  Following this, she held the post of medical nurse director, followed by deputy director of operations at The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital Trust.

Karen is passionate about leadership development and working alongside people to promote quality of care being delivered that ensures our patients are safe.