Margaret Sentamu

Role:Non-executive Director and Chair of the Mental Health Legislation Committee

What I do

I chair the Mental Health Legislation Committee and am also a member of the Audit Committee and the Remuneration Committee and I serve regularly on panels as a Mental Health Act Manager.

Together with my other non-executive colleagues, our job is to scrutinise the performance of the executive management in meeting agreed goals and objectives; satisfy ourselves as to the integrity of financial, clinical and other information; satisfy ourselves that financial and clinical quality controls and systems of risk management and governance are sound and that they are used; commission and use external advice as necessary; and ensure that we receive adequate information to monitor the reporting of quality and performance.

How I contribute to improving the experience of service users and carers
  • by supporting the Trust Chair, Chief Executive and Executive Directors in promoting the our Trust’s values; supporting a positive culture throughout our Trust by adopting behaviours in the boardroom and elsewhere that show a caring, respectful and supportive culture
  • by constructively challenging the proposed decisions of the Board of Directors and ensuring that appropriate challenge is made in all circumstances
  • by helping to develop proposals on priorities; on risk mitigation; on values and standards;
  • contributing to the development of strategy

I am also a member of the Audit Committee, the Mental Health Legislation Committee and the Remuneration Committee and I serve regularly on panels as a Mental Health Act Manager.  I am committed to leadership development and to improving diversity in the workforce as well as promoting a better understanding of the communities we serve.  I work closely with the Trust’s Diversity and Inclusion Lead.

My experience

I was appointed as a non-executive director on 6 February 2014 for my first term of office, which was recently extended for another period of three years.

My background is in recruitment and selection in the private, public and the third sectors. More recently I have focused on helping organisations to embed diversity practices in the workplace by challenging unconscious bias in the areas of recruitment, retention and people development.

My other portfolio career includes regulating solicitors who breach the code of conduct for the Solicitors Regulatory Authority; and accountants, who are members of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) who breach the by-laws.  As a non-executive director of Traidcraft I help the Board to think strategically about ways to combat poverty through fair trade practices.

I hold an MA in Theology and Adult Learning and I am an Associate member of the Chartered Institute for Personnel Development (CIPD).

Get in touch

You can email me at Margaret.sentamu@nhs.net