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Dr Gareth Goodier

Gareth Goodier

Areas of Interest

Health Care, Business

Honorary Award

Honorary Doctor of Health Sciences, 2009

Biography

Dr Gareth Goodier is the Chief Executive of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which includes Addenbrooke's Hospital. Under his leadership, the Trust has consistently been rated as one of the UK's best hospitals for both patient care and research.

After qualifying as a doctor in 1975 and working in a number of Sheffield teaching hospitals, Gareth spent 25 years in Australia in top positions at a number of major hospitals and health systems. He left Australia in 2001 and worked in Lebanon and Kuwait as a consultant for the World Bank. He returned to London in 2003 with this global experience behind him to take up the position of CEO at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust. He then became the CEO of the North West London Strategic Health Authority before moving to his current role in 2006.

Gareth has the leadership skills to ensure that excellence is delivered to patients and the public. He is honoured for his continuing efforts to raise standards and improve performance within the global health arena.



Citation

"Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to read the citation for Dr Gareth Goodier for the award of Honorary Doctor of Health Sciences.

Dr Gareth Goodier is the Chief Executive of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which includes Addenbrooke's and the Rosie Hospitals.

Under his leadership, the hospitals have consistently been rated as excellent for patient services and excellent for management by the Healthcare Commission. In the 2008 Health Service Journal Awards, the NHS equivalent of the Oscars, Cambridge University Hospitals was awarded 'Best Acute Hospital'. Clearly, this is one of the country's finest hospitals.

The Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust opened in 1766 as Addenbrooke's hospital with 20 beds 11 patients. Today it has an annual income of £455m, 1,170 beds, over a half a million out-patients each year and more than 150,000 admissions per annum.

After qualifying as a doctor in 1974 and working in a number of Sheffield teaching hospitals, Gareth spent 25 years in Australia, including five years with the Royal Flying Doctor service as part of a decade of service in the remote Kimberley Region of Western Australia. The Kimberley is one of the most rugged and remote areas in the world and the health services have a strong emphasis upon Aboriginal health issues. It was during this period that Gareth developed a passion for public health issues and started to see the advantages of improving health of the community through system changes rather than as a clinician.

This ultimately led to Dr Goodier moving into management. He was first appointed as the Regional Director of the Kimberley, and then later the Regional Director of North Queensland before going on to be appointed to the post of Chief Executive Officer of the Women's and Children's Hospitals in Perth, Western Australia. This role involved the integration of two very different teaching hospitals. His final position in Australia was as the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia - a hospital similar to Addenbrooke's.

As the Chair of the Western Australian Health Export Unit, Dr Goodier accompanied the Western Australian Health Minister on trade missions to China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan and India.

After leaving Australia in 2001, Dr Goodier worked in the Lebanon to lead the introduction of a hospital accreditation system and later reviewed the quality of the Kuwait health system; both of these projects were conducted as a management consultant for the World Bank.

Gareth returned to London in 2003 with this global experience behind him to take up the position of CEO at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust.

He then became the CEO of the North West London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) responsible for the primary, secondary and tertiary health care for a very diverse population of 1.9 million with a budget of £2.4 billion per annum and over 40,000 staff.

This SHA was responsible for numerous hospitals including: Hammersmith and Charing Cross Hospitals, the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, St Mary's, the Royal Marsden and the mental health services for North West London, including Broadmoor Hospital.

With the restructure of the London SHA's, Gareth moved to Cambridge to take up his current post in September 2006.

Gareth has a Masters in Health Management and medical specialist qualifications in Public Health and Medical Management.

In 1995 he won the Bernard Nicholson Prize in the College exams of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators as the 'most outstanding candidate'.

Dr Goodier Co-Authored a Masters course on Quality in Health Care and has lectured in several countries and universities on leadership and contemporary health management.

Through this work Dr Goodier is recognised internationally as an expert on quality in healthcare systems and is currently working with the Chinese government in developing a hospital accreditation system for the Chinese health system.

He is a Fellow of the NHS leadership Council and represents the Foundation Trusts on Medical Education England.

As a teaching hospital Cambridge University Hospitals is forging ever-stronger links with Anglia Ruskin University, working closely with students from the Faculty of Health and Social Care.

For his continuing efforts to raise standards and improve performance within the global health arena, we salute him today. Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to present Dr Gareth Goodier for the award of Doctor of Health Sciences, honoris causa."