St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospital Group (gesh)
After years of collaboration and creating closer working ties, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust and St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust formed a hospital group. Jacqueline Totterdell was appointed Group Chief Executive in August 2021. Gillian Norton, is chair of both trusts and took up the role as Chairman in Common in 2019.
Working as a hospital group allows for more joined-up decision making for the benefit of local people, a larger and more resilient clinical workforce, reduced variation in levels of care, and more access to a wider range of services for our patients.
Epsom and St Helier and St Georges remain two separate trusts but with one executive team enabling us to work closer together and build on our strong foundations.
We already work closely together and run joint services such as the South West London pathology network and we’re building a specialist kidney unit to improve care to our patients.
Leadership team
James Blythe, Interim Group Chief Executive Officer
James was appointed Interim CEO of gesh in September 2025. He has served as Managing Director of Epsom and St Helier Hospitals since April 2022.
James joined the NHS via the national Management Training Scheme in 2004. After roles in acute hospitals, commissioning and management consultancy, he was Director of Commissioning of Surrey Downs CCG from 2014 to 2017, and Managing Director of Merton and Wandsworth CCGs from 2017 to 2020.
James was seconded to work across ESTH and SGUH as Collaboration Programme Director from September 2020, leading to the agreement of the new hospital group by both Boards in June 2021. Through his CCG roles in Surrey and Merton, James has had longstanding involvement with plans to redevelop the acute estate at ESTH, and also recently led the engagement and decision-making process for an integrated renal service between the two Trusts. James is an Epsom resident.
Dr Richard Jennings, Group Chief Medical Officer
Dr Richard Jennings joined St George’s in December 2018 as Chief Medical Officer. Richard joined St George’s from Whittington Health NHS Trust, where he had been Executive Medical Director for four years.
Dr Jennings specialises in infection and acute medicine, and underwent his training at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Before becoming Executive Medical Director at the Whittington, he held the posts of Clinical Director for medicine and then Deputy Medical Director.
Elaine Clancy, Interim Group Chief Nursing Officer
Elaine joined St Georges, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals as Interim Group Chief Nursing Officer in September 2025.
As the Chief Nursing Officer for the NHS in South West London, Elaine already has an integral role in developing plans to improve health and care services and be responsible for ensuring they become a reality for local people.
In her role as chief nurse at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, Elaine was instrumental in delivering real quality improvements in patient care, both at Croydon University and Purley War Memorial Hospitals and in her joint role with South West London.
With over 30 years’ NHS experience, Elaine has held a number of senior nursing and managerial roles at major London teaching hospitals, as well as in community services and NHS commissioning.
Elaine will return to her South West London role once a permanent Group Chief Nursing Officer is recruited.
Lizzie Alabaster, Interim Group Chief Finance Officer
Lizzie has led the financial performance and delivery for half of gesh at ESTH for the past three years. Prior to this, she was Deputy Director of Finance for NHS England London Region covering South West London, and brings a wealth of senior leadership experience from within NHS England, acute and mental health providers and the wider financial sector.
Lizzie first joined the NHS in 2007 at Monitor, the regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts. She trained as an accountant at Ernst & Young within financial services and the insurance sector.
Victoria Smith, Group Chief People Officer
Vicky joined St Georges, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals in July 2024 as the Group Chief People Officer.
Vicky has a wide variety of experience, most recently as HR Director for the Ministry of Defence. She started her career in the private sector working as a Management Consultant with many well-known multinational organisations such as BP, Lloyd’s Banking Group, HSBC and Novartis.
She has been a Senior Civil Servant for the last ten years and has worked in many of the large central government departments. She also had a spell of working with the NHS in the early part of her career. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and is a passionate advocate for inclusion and wellbeing.
Stephen Jones, Group Chief Corporate Affairs Officer
Stephen has been Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust since March 2018. He was previously Chief of Staff and executive lead for corporate governance at the General Medical Council. Prior to this, Stephen worked as Stakeholder Engagement Director on Co-operation and Competition policy at NHS Improvement.
He held a number of senior roles within the Department of Health central policy unit where he led on NHS Foundation Trust policy, the NHS Constitution and legislative engagement. At the Department, Stephen also served as Senior Private Secretary to the Minister for Quality. Prior to working in healthcare, Stephen was an adviser to the House of Commons Defence Committee and was a foreign policy adviser in the House of Commons Research Service.
As Group Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Stephen will lead on corporate governance, risk management, legal services and Freedom to Speak Up, and will act as governance adviser to the Boards of Epsom & St Helier and St George’s and to the St George’s Council of Governors.
Kate Slemeck, Managing Director for St George’s Hospital
Kate previously worked at Royal Free Hospital as director of operations in 2011 before being appointed as chief operating officer in 2012 and then becoming chief executive of the Royal Free Hospital in 2018.
Kate originally trained as an Occupational Therapist. Her previous roles also include Director of Operations and Chief Operating Officer and she has nearly 30 years’ NHS management experience, mainly in acute trusts (including Northwick Park Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Neurodisability).
Thirza Sawtell, Managing Director for Integrated Care
Thirza began her career as a Health Visitor before moving into the operational management of community services and then into the commissioning and strategic planning of health and care services across a number of areas of London.
For the past six years she has worked in SW London and Surrey as the Executive Director of Integrated Care for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, responsible to the Partnership Boards of Surrey Downs and Sutton each of which deliver a wide range of truly integrated community services for their local communities.
Prior to this she was Director of Strategy for the North West London Collaboration and led the Pioneer Whole System Integration Programme.