Northampton's St Andrews hospital appoints five directors to 'bring about positive change'

Five new non-executive directors have been appointed at Northampton's St Andrew's Mental Health Hospital to "bring about positive change".

The hospital says it has recruited the five new members to sit on the board of directors as part of a "restructure".

It comes after the hospital's current chair Peter Carter himself joined the charity in July last year.

The hospital on Billing Road has made several critical rethinks in the last six months. Earlier this year, the healthcare watchdog stepped in to personally 'end the risk of continuing harm' on two separate children and women's wards following a series of damning inspections.

And, chief executive Katie Fisher told The Guardian in January how its flagship 110-bed adolescent care unit - Fitzroy House - was too big to manage and was planning to cut the number of beds across the entire hospital.

Now, St Andrews says the five new non-executive directors will "support the development of the charity's strategy and culture."

Chair Peter Carter - a former chief executive at North West London Mental Health Trust and the Royal College of Nursing - said: "We’re pleased to have onboard such talented and experienced people who understand the challenging mental health landscape in this country. Each person will play a vital role in continuing to bring about positive change for St Andrew’s.

“Together we will be able to improve the lives of people with mental illness.”

The five new directors include:

- Professor David Salah, who currently serves on the board of directors at Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. He was the National Director responsible for the Department of Health programme for Delivering Race Equality in Mental Healthcare.

- Elena Lokteva, a qualified accountant and trustee of Hertfordshire Mind Network and Re-Vision, and also works with BiPolar UK on various community activities.

- Professor Stanton Newman, a practicing clinical psychologist for over 40 years, currently pro-vice-chancellor of City University London.

- Tansi Harper, who has served on a variety of health, Ministry of Justice and Voluntary Sector boards. She is also a carer, and is a member of the Northamptonshire Carers Forum.

- Andrew Lee, who has held roles at Teachers Building Society, Co-operative Banking Group, and Lloyds Global Banking Group.