Director of Organisational Development and Workforce announces departure

Claire Holmes, Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s Director of Organisational Development and Workforce, has announced she will be leaving the Trust.

Claire (pictured) joined the Trust in October 2018 after nine years at national property design company NPS Group.

Since joining LYPFT Claire has developed the organisation’s workforce strategy, supporting LYPFT’s staff in clinical and corporate services, developing their leadership and contributing to bringing in a range of new and talented people. Since March 2020 this has included playing a key role as part of the Trust’s Coronavirus Incident Response Team.

Claire said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to work with some exceptional people at LYPFT. I’m grateful to the Trust for giving me this wonderful opportunity in an organisation that’s doing such incredible work with some of the most vulnerable people in society.

“Now that we are thankfully coming out of the pandemic, the organisation is looking to move out of incident response and into a recovery phase – during which it will be refreshing its longer term strategic plans. I have therefore made the difficult but considered decision to take a career break to concentrate on my personal and family circumstances.

“I would like to pay tribute to everyone in the Trust who has supported me during my years here, especially my colleagues in the workforce directorate who have risen to the mountainous challenges of the pandemic with the utmost professionalism and dedication. I am proud of the team and leave knowing the future of the directorate is in some very capable hands.”

Dr Sara Munro, Chief Executive of Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I would like to thank Claire for her hard work and dedication over the last two and a half years. Her priorities have rightly been the health and wellbeing of staff and championing equality and inclusion – something that was so painfully highlighted during the pandemic.

“I understand Claire’s reasons for wanting to take this break from work and fully support them. Claire will leave the organisation once she is able to safely hand over her existing work programmes. I will be looking to appoint an interim director of HR until we can appoint someone substantively for the next stage of our journey as a Trust. Whilst we’re appointing our interim director I will work closely with my senior workforce colleagues to ensure a smooth transition.”

Read more about Claire Holmes on our website.