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New boss appointed at Royal Free Hospital

David Crampsey previously worked as the deputy chief executive and medical director at Airedale NHS Trust in West Yorkshire, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Royal Free Hospital (credit Stephen McKay via Wikimedia) and (inset) David Crampsey

New bosses have been appointed at two North London hospitals – as patient waiting times are highlighted as an area to tackle.

David Crampsey has been announced as the new chief executive of Royal Free Hospital in Camden, starting in the role on 30th October. Palmer Winstanley will lead Chase Farm Hospital and head up group clinical services from 1st October. 

Both hospitals are operated by Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

David will be taking over from Steve Spoerry, who has been standing in as interim chief executive at the Royal Free. 

Palmer will take over from Deborah Sanders, who had split her time as acting chief executive at Chase Farm with her role as chief executive at Barnet Hospital.

The trust also runs Barnet Hospital and in total across its hospital sites serves approximately 1.6 million people annually.

Peter Landstrom, group chief executive at Royal Free London, said Palmer and David had a “wealth of NHS experience and expertise”. 

He said: “I look forward to working with them to meet our ambition of delivering world-leading care to all our patients and creating a healthier future for the communities we serve.”

Previously David worked as the deputy chief executive and medical director at Airedale NHS Trust in West Yorkshire.

Palmer previously worked as the deputy chief executive and chief operating officer at Northampton General Hospital.

Key aims set out by Royal Free London for 2024/25 included no patient “waiting more than 65 weeks for treatment”, which will come into place by September.

It also wants to “continue to reduce the number of patients waiting 52 weeks” and ensure 78% of patients at accident and emergency (A&E) are treated or admitted within four hours by March 2025. 

With cancer waiting times the aim is to consistently meet the 28-day timeframe for diagnosis for urgent cancer referrals and 62-day deadline for non-urgent referrals. 

The trust is also prioritising improving data quality “for the benefit of patient care”. 


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