QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Kate Noakes

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Kate Noakes is Deputy Director of Change Management at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, a mental health trust which provides a wide range of services to the population of Sussex and its bordering counties. Before joining the NHS, Kate spent 10 years managing operations and contracts with British Airways and then working as a provider to airlines developing new business solutions. Kate has a First Class BSc Honours in Hotel and Catering Management. Away from work, Kate’s enjoys being ‘Mum’ to a wonderful nine year old girl, whose social life takes increasing priority over Kate’s, and an enchanting 6 year old boy, whose diagnosis of autism has brought unexpected inspiration and insight into her life.

Q&A

Kate Noakes
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Chat Summary

I entered Sussex Partnership at a really pivotal point in time. It was just acquiring Foundation Trust status, the organisation was undergoing a full restructure, its main service contract was being re-negotiated and the business objectives being mapped out were more ambitious than ever before. I have therefore spent the last 12 months fully immersed in an intensive round of business planning, service and process modelling and contract development work, whilst at the same time looking to establish strong commissioner relationships and introduce standardised approaches into the Trust to deliver robust change management. If you are keen to find out more about how a Mental Health Trust compares to other parts of the NHS (I can highly recommend it) and what things you could be asked to do in the more commercial / project management type roles, please let me know.

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Q&A

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