Category: Public Sector Services
Her early career ran between September 1994 and January 1999 and included roles at Whipps Cross Hospital (now part of Barts Health NHS Trust) and Central London Multifund (now part of NHS Central London CCG).
She subsequently held roles and excelled as Project Manager at London Ambulance Service and Surrey Ambulance Service (now South East Coast Ambulance Service). She was Project Manager and Choice Lead at Choose and Book, Enfield Primary care Trust (now NHS Enfield CCG); and Project Lead - Taking Care 24/7 at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust till January 2009.
In December 2009, she was appointed as General Manager - Surgery, Anaesthetics & Theatres at North Middlesex University Hospital, and later as General Manager, Women & Children’s Services. Key achievements in these roles include:
- Improvements in Patient Safety by increasing MRSA Screening rates in Maternity from less than 50% to consistently above 98%;
- Significant improvement in theatre efficiency and performance by introducing theatre matrices; and
- Strong delivery against national and QIPP targets.
Chinyama OKUNUGA
Chinyama OKUNUGA
In October 2013, she became the Divisional General Manager, Women & Children’s Services, and later Divisional General Manager, Acute & General Medicine, at Basildon & Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Trust. In these roles, she led a robust action plan that resulted in a rapid turnaround in clinical outcomes and operational standards. The service within a year had a “Good” outcome for Children’s services and “Outstanding” for Maternity services. She was responsible for circa 1800 staff, a turnover over £80m and a bed base of 420 inpatient beds.
In August 2017, she became the Deputy Chief Operating Officer at East & North Herts NHS Trust. In August 2020, she rose to Managing Director - Unplanned Care with circa 2700 staff and an annual turnover of £145m. Key achievements include:
- Outstanding response to the pandemic with clinical leadership including maintaining cancer performance;
- Developed initiatives to support staff resilience and maintain morale during the pandemic;
- Led the operational teams during the financial turn around and recovery that led to a significant improved financial position for the Trust.
Recently, in September 2022, she was appointed as the Chief Operating Officer at Whittington Health NHS Trust - an Integrated Care Organisation with over 5000 employees across multiple sites.
She has bagged awards including the HSJ Partnership Award – Workforce Innovation Award; Excellence in Human Resource Management – Supporting Medical Staff; and HSJ Management Award’, National award for the use of e-technology in Health care.
She has also presented Papers at Conferences and featured in Publications. She is a Lead Governor for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at London South East Colleges and Vice Chair for the national Proud2bOps, a national award-winning network for operational leaders.
She mentors many young NHS graduates but also colleagues mainly from BAME backgrounds. She is a strong advocate for Racial and Gender equality, and is a true example of breaking racial barriers in her profession.
She is married to Adesegun Okunuga, her husband of over twenty six years. They are blessed with two adult children, Motunrayo and Segun Junior.