Dame Joan Stringer Appointed as Chairperson

The Board of Trustees of Community Integrated Care are pleased to announce that they have elected Dame Joan Stringer as our new Chairperson.

Dame Joan Stringer is nationally recognised as one of Britain’s leading public sector figures. She retired as the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University in 2013, after more than 10 years in post. In 2001, Dame Joan was awarded a CBE for Services to Higher Education and she was made a DBE in 2009 for Services to Local and National Higher Education.

She has held a number of senior public appointment’s with esteemed organisations such as the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland, Grampian Health Board and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. She currently chairs Edinburgh’s Festival City Theatres Trust, is a member of the Board of the National Theatre of Scotland, and is a Council member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Institute of Directors. In 2011, she was named Public Sector Leader of the Year at the Scottish Leadership Awards.

Her appointment comes during the second year of Community Integrated Care’s ambitious five year strategy, which has the vision of us becoming The UK’s Leading Health and Social Care Charity by 2017. This has seen us commit to a major programme of organisational development, change and investment, with the aim of maximising our impact on society.

Dame Joan replaces Simon Attwell, the former Director of Finance at the University of Salford, who has stepped down as the Chair of our organisation after serving a five year tenure in the role.

Dame Joan Stringer says, “I am privileged to have been asked to take on this important role. The care sector makes a huge and growing contribution to the health and wellbeing of millions in our society, as well as being a vital part of our economy. I have been impressed by Community Integrated Care’s aspirations and commitment to ensuring that, as demands on services continue to grow, high quality, innovative person-centred care remains at the heart of its approach. I am very much looking forward to working with Trustees and staff to help deliver its vision and build on the achievements of my predecessor, Simon Attwell”

Neil Matthewman, Chief Executive of Community Integrated Care, says: “We are delighted to have appointed someone of Dame Joan Stringer’s stature as our Chair of Trustees. Dame Joan has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and a commitment to contributing to society throughout her distinguished career. We believe that these qualities will be central to us achieving our aim of becoming the leading charity in our sector.”

He continues, “I would also like to thank Simon Attwell, who has given Community Integrated Care twelve years of dedicated service as a Trustee and our Chair. Simon has helped our organisation to grow and become more effective, and has given us a strong foundation to make an even greater contribution to society over the years ahead.”