New Medical Director appointed
17/09/2018
This article is more than six years old.
Professor Meghana Pandit has been appointed as Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's new Medical Director.
Her appointment was formally approved by the Remuneration and Appointments Committee of the Trust Board on Wednesday 12 September 2018, following interviews on Friday 7 September. It is subject to formal ministerial approval.
Meghana will be joining OUH in January 2019 from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust where she is currently Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Chief Executive.
She succeeds Dr Tony Berendt as OUH Medical Director. He retired from OUH and the NHS on Friday 14 September. Dr Clare Dollery, Deputy Medical Director, will be Acting Medical Director and Responsible Officer until January.
Dr Bruno Holthof, Chief Executive of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, says: "Meghana is an outstanding medical leader who will strengthen and enrich the Trust Board. She has a wealth of experience in medical leadership and management which I have no doubt will strengthen our senior management team."
Professor Meghana Pandit has been Chief Medical Officer at UHCW since 2012 and Deputy Chief Executive since 2014, as well as Professor of Practice in the Institute of Digital Health at Warwick University since 2015. She also has a prize MBA from Oxford Brookes University and is a Senior Founding Fellow of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management.
As Chief Medical Officer at UHCW, she has led the development of the Trust's clinical strategy and and was part of the leadership team that developed a ground-breaking partnership between UHCW and the Virginia Mason Institute, a leading US health organisation, to support improvements in patient care and to create and sustain a 'lean' culture of continuous improvement.
This focus on quality and patient safety led to UHCW winning the Health Service Journal Patient Safety Team of the Year Award 2018.
Her clinical background is in obstetrics and gynaecology, and in fact she was SHO and registrar at the John Radcliffe and Churchill hospitals in Oxford during her training.
She became a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, then Clinical Director, and finally Divisional Director at Milton Keynes NHS Foundation Trust before becoming Chief Medical Officer at UHCW.
Professor Pandit says: "I am delighted to be joining the team at OUH. I have very happy memories of my time in Oxford and I am really looking forward to using the skills and experience which I have gained during my career to date in my new role as OUH Medical Director.
"OUH has huge strengths as a centre for research and specialist treatment, as well as providing local hospital services for the people of Oxfordshire, and I am looking forward to working with you all to help meet the needs of the communities which we serve."