New director of operations for Lincs mental health and learning disability trust

Chris Higgins has been appointed as the new Director of Operations at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) – the county’s mental health and learning disability services provider. He has already been supporting LPFT as interim director for a few months and he is excited to be taking up a permanent post.

Chris has worked in the NHS for over 20 years and started his career as a mental health nurse trainee in Pilgrim Hospital in Boston. He has worked across inpatient services including acute mental health, rehabilitation and older adult mental health wards. For several years Chris also worked in substance misuse services, he then moved into modern matron and deputy director roles within the Trust.

Brendan Hayes, LPFT Chief Executive, congratulated Chris on his appointment. He said: “Chris impressed the staff, governors and other stakeholders on the panels with his understanding of the bigger picture which showed how our quality improvement programme, our Care Quality Commission rating and partnership working all come together.

“He is passionate about mental health and learning disability services and he has extensive experience of working with other NHS organisations to improve patient care. He also showed us how staff and service user engagement are important to him as a leader – something which is crucial to successfully developing and transforming our services to make them sustainable.”

Chris said: “I have had an extremely enjoyable and rewarding career in the NHS since I first started my training in 1995. I have put a lot in but also got a lot out in terms of personal satisfaction and development opportunities.

“I am very much looking forward to the next chapter in my journey with LPFT.

“One of my key priorities is supporting joint working between the NHS and social care to improve services for people of Lincolnshire.”