Hospice UK appoints five new trustees

The charity, which is the national champion for the UK’s 200+ hospices, welcomes a wealth of experience and insight from both within and beyond the hospice sector to support the delivery of its new five-year strategy.

The new trustees, who bring a mixture of clinical, academic, fundraising and corporate experience, include:

• Dr Sabrina Bajwah, consultant in palliative medicine, Clinical Reader at King’s College London, and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Executive Lead at the Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation;
• Dr Sam Kyeremateng, consultant in palliative medicine and Medical Director at St Luke’s Hospice Sheffield;
• Professor Helen Laville, Provost and Deputy Vice Chancellor at Kingston University;
• Professor Alison Richardson, Clinical Professor of Cancer Nursing and End of Life Care at the University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, and Deputy Director of Nursing Research – Academic Leadership and Strategy at NHS England;
• Richard Winter CBE, Deputy Chair of Save the Children in the UK, board member of Save the Children International and recently retired partner at PwC.

Paul Jennings, chair of Hospice UK, said: “It’s absolutely brilliant for Hospice UK to be bringing in such a talented group to strengthen our board.

“Sabrina, Sam, Helen, Alison and Richard between them have superb, high level experience and I know each of them will bring valuable insight, scrutiny and support as Hospice UK strives toward its vision of hospice care for all, for now and forever.

“As has been well documented in the media, we face a critical time in the hospice sector in the coming months and years. The clinical excellence, commitment to equity and inclusion, and strong charity governance experience that this new group brings will be invaluable for Hospice UK and for the wider hospice sector through this time.”

Toby Porter, CEO of Hospice UK, said: “Sabrina, Sam, Helen, Alison and Richard will brilliantly complement our existing board members. 

“The whole team at Hospice UK is looking forward to meeting them and working with them in the coming years. We’re excited to be joined by such a high calibre and committed group, and I’m thoroughly looking forward to hearing their insights and perspectives on how Hospice UK can best promote and protect hospice care into the future.”

The new positions follow an expansion of Hospice UK’s Board designed to bring in greater clinical expertise as well as additional insight from outside of the hospice sector.

Hospice UK’s new five-year strategy, ‘For All, For Now, Forever’ was launched in summer 2024 alongside a full refresh of the charity’s brand. 

Since the election the charity has been vocally campaigning for reform of hospice funding as many of its hospice members struggle with significant financial pressures. More than 16,000 members of the public have written to their MP to highlight the problem.

The charity is calling for short-term support for the sector along with long-term changes to support better and fairer commissioning of hospice services.

Around 40,000 people work in the hospice sector across the UK, along with around 95,000 volunteers who work to enhance the experience of patients and families. Hospice UK also provides guidance, analysis and advice on national issues and trends affecting the UK’s hospices. As well as distributing grant funding for specific clinical improvement programmes, it runs conferences, networks and training events.