Question: Tell us about your current role (please provide your job title) and what you enjoy most about it?
Answer: I’m the Chief Financial Officer at Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. My role is to keep the organisation financially resilient so we can deliver outstanding care today while investing wisely for tomorrow. I enjoy working shoulder-to-shoulder with clinical and operational colleagues—turning data into decisions, aligning resources with patient need, and seeing tangible improvements for patients and staff.
Question: Can you describe your career story?
Answer: I’ve spent over a decade in healthcare finance, progressing through assurance, performance, and strategic planning roles into leadership and now CFO. I’ve worked across complex provider settings and system collaborations, which taught me how finance can be a catalyst for quality and productivity—not just a control function. The common thread has been building high-trust teams, simplifying the complex, and focusing on outcomes that matter to patients.
Question: Were there any role models who gave you a sense of what it is to be a leader or helped you on your journey?
Answer: Several mentors shaped my approach: a clinical director who modelled calm under pressure and patient-first decision-making; a finance leader who combined rigor with kindness; and a chair who showed how clarity of purpose unlocks alignment. I also learn a lot from frontline teams—their practicality and commitment keep me grounded.
Question: What are the top 3 attributes you value most in a leader?
Answer: Clarity of purpose — set a compelling “why” and keep score transparently. Courage with kindness — make hard choices while protecting dignity and trust. And curiosity — ask better questions, listen deeply, and change your mind with evidence.
Question: What barriers have you faced in your career and how did you overcome them?
Answer: Early on I sometimes felt the weight of complexity—large datasets, regulatory pressures, and competing priorities. I overcame that by investing in data literacy, seeking mentors, and breaking problems into testable steps with clear owners and timelines. Like many, I’ve also navigated imposter syndrome; the antidote has been preparation, feedback, and focusing on the team’s shared outcomes rather than personal perfection.
Question: How have you balanced the competing needs of a modern leadership role? How would you define a modern leadership role (e.g. what skills are required)?
Answer: Modern leadership is about patients, people, and performance — and in that order. It requires financial acumen, data and digital fluency, systems thinking, inclusive leadership, and clear communication. Practically, I balance by setting a small number of non-negotiable priorities, publishing simple metrics, empowering leaders closest to the work, and protecting time for team development and my own reflection.
Question: The theme for International Women’s Day this year is #AccelerateAction – How are you accelerating action on gender equity?
Answer: We’re moving from intent to impact. Concretely, we are hiring fairly, with balanced shortlists and diverse panels for senior roles, and having transparent criteria. We are developing and sponsoring, offering targeted mentoring/sponsorship for women in finance and operational leadership, and giving them access to stretch projects. We are making flexibility normal and we’ve now had job-share friendly design, flexible working by default, and manager capability to run teams flexibly. Many NHS organisations these days have regular pay-gap reviews with published actions, audit of progression and training access, and we have quarterly board reporting on equity metrics and lived-experience feedback, with follow-through, etc. Equity accelerates performance, so we treat it as a core efficiency and quality strategy—not an adjunct.
Question: What advice would you give to finance staff in furthering their careers and becoming leaders?
Answer: Master the basics—forecasting, costing, and grip—and then get close to care: spend time with clinical teams and learn their pressures. Tell the story behind the numbers, not just the numbers. Volunteer for cross-functional projects, seek a mentor and a sponsor (they are different), and ask for feedback early and often. Build your data and digital skills, and practice communicating simply—boards and wards both value clarity.
Question: What do you enjoy doing outside of the working week?
Answer: Family time tops my list — parks, libraries, and exploring local neighbourhoods with my young son. I also enjoy cooking, jog along the countryside, and reading history and biographies to reset my perspective.