Lynne Hunt

From front-line care, through clinical leadership roles and at board and system level, Lynne’s career has been dedicated to championing people experiencing mental health challenges and improving their care, treatment and opportunities available to them.

Lynne has worked relentlessly to make sure patient, service user and carer voices are not only heard, but that they are central to organisations’ decision making. Lynne’s vision is for mental health and community services to be led by those that use them, and this has driven the organisational and cultural changes within the organisations she has led.

Lynne’s four decades of public service have been within NHS mental health services. She began as a nurse in Dorset, before moving to London where she rose to director of nursing and deputy chief executive at East London NHS Foundation Trust. Lynne returned to the south, becoming vice-chair of Dorset Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, before joining Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust in 2017 as chair.

Lynne joined Southern Health at a time when the organisation was facing unprecedented challenge and scrutiny. In five years, she has overseen significant improvements to culture and practice and in January 2020 the trust was awarded an improved CQC rating of ‘Good’ for the first time in its history. Lynne has also been pivotal in ensuring that mental health is seen as a priority in the local health and care system, pushing for parity of esteem and resources as part of an overall population health improvement approach.