Sarah Rushton, West London Mental Health NHS Trust's new executive director of local services, will be responsible for providing leadership to community and inpatient mental health services for adults and young people across Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow.

Local services provide mental health care for approximately 20,000 people across the three boroughs, which have a total population of about 700,000.

Sarah’s career spans 20 years in NHS mental health care. She has worked in a wide variety of settings including community and forensic services and brings a wealth of experience in redesigning pathways of care, skills which are critical in her current role leading local services at the trust. She’s been acting director in local services for the past four months.

Commenting on her position, Sarah said: “This is an exciting time to be taking up the leadership of local services. Working alongside our colleagues in primary care and social services, we are creating new ways of working in the community that we believe will better meet the needs of the people we care for, offering more mental health services closer to home and within primary care settings, integrating physical and mental health services and improving community-based care of patients with cognitive impairment and dementia to name a few. The challenges are immense but also very rewarding.

“I am delighted to be leading an outstanding team who are committed to improving patient care for some of the most vulnerable patients the NHS treats.”

Chief Executive, Steve Shrubb, said: “Sarah’s a fantastic leader with an impressive background in the field of mental health care. I am confident that our services and our patients will benefit from her appointment as well as her vast experience.”

Sarah has worked at the West London Mental Health NHS Trust since 2013 as interim director of specialist and forensic services and most recently as interim director of local services since last April. Before that Sarah was interim associate director for service redesign at the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust where she also worked as a project director.

She has trained and practised as an occupational therapist and retains her registration. Sarah has expertise in service development and partnership work and a focus on the patient experience.

West London Mental Health NHS Trust is one of the largest mental health trusts in the country. It provides a full range of mental health services for children, adults and older people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow in addition to specialist and forensic mental health services, including high secure services at Broadmoor Hospital.