Board appointments announced for new NHS Trust following merger
October 22, 2026
Trust board appointments have been made for what will be Leeds Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) from 1 April 2027. This follows the merger between Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust.
The Chair of LPFT was announced in September 2026 as Helen Thomson DL. Helen was then able to lead the Chief Executive appointment process which has ratified Dr Sara Munro as our Chief Executive.
The names of LPFT’s appointed non-executives are as follows:
| Name | Find out more about them on our websites |
| Zoe Burns-Shore | Biography and picture |
| Professor Frances Healey | Biography and picture |
| Kaneez Khan MBE | Biography and picture |
| Lynne Mellor | Biography and picture |
| Rachel Booth | Biography and picture |
| Khalil Rehman | Biography and picture |
| Anne Cooper | Biography and picture |
One post remains unfilled which means we will be recruiting a new non-executive director to start from 1 April 2027.
The executive director portfolios and appointed postholders for LPFT from April next year are as follows:
| Executive director role | Appointed postholder and link to biographies |
| Chief executive officer | Dr Sara Munro
|
| Chief finance officer | Dawn Hanwell
|
| Chief operating officer | Joanna Forster Adams
|
| Chief people officer
(formerly known as director of people and organisational development) |
Jenny Allen
|
| Chief nursing and professions officer
(formerly known as director of nursing and professions) |
Nichola Sanderson
|
| Chief medical officer (strategy, integration and population health) | Dr Ruth Burnett
|
| Chief medical officer (quality, workforce and professional standards) | Dr Chris Hosker
|
| Chief digital strategy officer (new role) | Yet to be appointed |
LPFT’s executive and non-executive will start operating as a Shadow Board from January 2027. One of their first tasks will be to oversee the development of a strategy for the new trust.
Helen Thomson DL (pictured), Chair-elect of Leeds Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is a very significant milestone in our journey towards integration, and I’m pleased we’re now in a position to confirm names and roles.
“I must say a huge thank you to those current executive and non-executive directors who won’t be taking up posts with LPFT from 1 April next year. We’ll be paying very warm tributes to them nearer the time when we’ll be able to announce what they’ll be moving on to do next. But they’ll all be fully occupied for the remaining months of the two trusts as we’ve got to keep running both organisations until the end of March.”
Dr Sara Munro, Chief Executive-elect of LPFT, said: “This has been a tough process to go through for all those involved, especially those who will be leaving. I’ve been impressed with how selfless they have been in balancing making the right decisions for the future of LPFT against their own personal circumstances.
“We’ve expanded our executive portfolio to include two Chief Medical Officers. This is in response to the increasing complexity of delivering integrated healthcare across mental health, community, primary care and acute sectors. It will strengthen executive clinical leadership capacity, enable greater system influence, support integrated pathway development, enhance population health management, and improve the Trust's ability to address health inequalities.
“We’ve also listened to feedback and strengthened our digital leadership capacity by creating the role of Chief Digital Strategy Officer. It’s clear that digital transformation is central to NHS delivery, productivity, financial sustainability, patient experience, and system integration.
“Our Chief Digital Strategy Officer will provide executive leadership for digital transformation, data, technology and innovation, ensuring that digital capability is fully integrated within corporate strategy, service transformation and system partnership working. We’re yet to appoint to this role so we’ll make a separate announcement when this has been confirmed.”
