3 new NEDs for Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman
Carolyn Hirst, Anu Singh and Linda Farrant join the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's Board as non-executive directors, it was announced today. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman combines the two statutory roles of Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the Parliamentary Ombudsman) and Health Service Commissioner for England (Health Service Ombudsman). Their powers are set out in the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 and the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman service is not part of government or the NHS in England but is are accountable to Parliament and its work is scrutinised by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. It is neither a regulator nor a consumer champion.
Carolyn Hirst
Carolyn has many years of experience as a mediator and currently mediates for the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission and Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
As an experienced board member, she carries out governance reviews and is a non-executive board member of NHS Lothian. She is also the vice-chair of Midlothian Integration Joint Board and a trustee of the Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation.
She brings with her a wealth of adjudication experience including being deputy Scottish public services ombudsman for five years and as a lecturer in ombudsman and complaint handling practice at Queen Margaret University, where she is now an honorary research fellow.
Anu Singh
Anu has many years of experience as a board level local government and health leader. Former roles include statutory director of adult social care and chairing an NHS integrated care trust.
Anu was also director of patient and public participation and insight for NHS England. She made sure that the voices of patients, service users, carers and the public were at the heart of how the NHS worked. She was also responsible for equalities, health inequalities, and the national relationship with the voluntary and community sector.
She is passionate about service improvement and community empowerment, with extensive experience in building new relationships with communities for a number of local authorities.
Linda Farrant
Linda is a CIPFA qualified accountant and has a broad experience of non-executive roles in the public and voluntary sectors covering health, housing, criminal justice, and education.
Linda has spent much of her executive career in local government working on finance, regeneration policy and developing devolved public services.
She is currently deputy chair of East and North Hertfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group and chair of the governance and audit committee. She has recently completed two terms on the board of Ofsted and the audit and corporate governance committee of the Care Quality Commission.
