Changes to Place Executive Lead roles in south east London
Ceri Jacob, Place Executive Lead for Lewisham, will be retiring later this year. At the same time, as part of ongoing reviews, Southwark Council and NHS South East London have agreed that the Place Executive Lead role in Southwark will become NHS-only from the end of September 2026.
As a result, NHS South East London will make the following changes: Darren Summers, the current Place Executive Lead in Southwark, will take on a new role as Place Executive Lead for both Greenwich and Lewisham; two distinct Places but with strong synergies. Gabi Darby, who is currently Place Executive Lead in Greenwich, will move to take up the new senior NHS Director role in Southwark, where she will also work on a number of sub-regional programmes with colleagues across south east London.
Andrew Bland, Chief Executive Officer, NHS South East London ICB and NHS South West London ICB, said, “Our partnerships and close working with local authorities are central to our ability to deliver high quality health and care services to the people of south east London. These changes allow us to bring depth of experience and knowledge to maintain those partnerships in an evolving health and care environment, and particularly as we develop and deliver our neighbourhood health service. I welcome Darren and Gabi to their new roles. And I look forward to expressing my deep gratitude to Ceri closer to the time of her retirement.”
Althea Loderick, Chief Executive, Southwark Council, said, “I would like to thank Darren for his service and commitment to improving the lives of the communities we serve. I wish him every success in his new role. We have a clear ambition to improve health and care outcomes for people in Southwark. I look forward to continuing our close partnership with NHS South East London as we build on our shared commitment to delivering the best possible support and services for residents.”
Jennifer Daothong, Chief Executive, Lewisham Council, said, “I would like to thank Ceri for her service and significant contribution towards improving health outcomes across Lewisham. Ceri has been a highly valued colleague, and we wish her every happiness in her retirement.
“I am also delighted to welcome Darren Summers to Lewisham. Darren brings a wealth of experience and expertise, and I look forward to working with him as we continue to improve health and care services for our communities.”
Councillor Mariam Lolavar, Cabinet Member for Health, Adult Social Care and Communities at the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said: “I’d like to thank Gabi Darby for her leadership, commitment and partnership during her time working in Greenwich. She has played an important role in strengthening collaboration across our health and care system, helping us to improve services, and deliver better health outcomes for our residents.
“We wish Gabi every success in her new role and look forward to working closely with Darren as we continue to build on the strong partnership across the system and the integrated commissioning arrangements. This is so that we can continue to tackle health inequalities and delivering the best possible health and care services for the people of Greenwich.”
These changes will start to come into effect from 7 September, when Darren Summers will leave his role in Southwark. Gabi Darby will take up her Southwark role on that date and continue to offer leadership in Greenwich during September. Darren will be in post in Greenwich on 24 September, and in Lewisham on 1 October.