Professor Julia “Jules” Wendon has been appointed to the position of Medical Director, while Luis Pedro has been promoted to Operations Director.
Professor Wendon joins The London Clinic with many years of experience in medical leadership at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, where she has spent nearly three decades as a consultant in intensive care medicine, with a specific interest in liver failure.
She has a specific interest in the care of critically ill liver patients, a field in which she has published over 250 papers and is a recognised speaker at various fora.
Taking over from Mr Satya Bhattacharya, who stepped down as Medical Director after five years in April, Professor Wendon joins the executive team to play a key role in driving forward our ambitious medical agenda. As a charity, we are committed to advancing medical knowledge and clinical excellence, and sharing best practice for the benefit of all.
Mr Bhattacharya remains a surgeon within The London Clinic community.
Meanwhile, following a competitive process, Luis Pedro has been promoted to the board from his position as Head of Hotel and Customer Services, which he has held since 2017. His promotion follows a track record of achieving consistently high engagement scores among staff and patients in a senior operational role at The London Clinic.
Before joining The London Clinic, Luis held senior roles in operations, hospitality and customer services, including at Aspen Healthcare and InterContinental Hotels Group. He replaces Geoff Cox, who leaves The London Clinic after seven years.
Luis’ appointment to the board signals our strategic commitment to our people and the workplace experience, while being an excellent example of a valued team member rising through the ranks. This people-centric approach will be further bolstered by a newly-created People Director role, which will be in place in the coming months.
Al Russell, Chief Executive, says: “I am delighted to appoint Luis and Jules to the positions of Operations Director and Medical Director respectively.
“It is such a pleasure to promote internally. Luis is the third internal promotion to the board since I have been CEO at The London Clinic, following four years of exceptional operational leadership.
“Meanwhile, Jules, with her impressive career to date in the NHS, will be an asset in driving forward our strategy, particularly around advancing healthcare, research and growing our centres of excellence.”
“I am truly delighted to be joining the team at The London Clinic,” says Professor Wendon, “where it is clear from the first moment of contact that patient care is central to everything.
“It is a privilege to be offered the opportunity to be part of the onward journey to provide excellence in all that we do and commit to continued learning and quality improvement.”
Luis says: “Over the last four years, the team and I worked together to improve and centralise services, make them patient-centric, and listen to and act on our stakeholders’ feedback. Even in the face of adversity, we went from strength to strength.
“I am honoured to continue being part of this incredible community, the UK’s largest independent private hospital and a charity I’m greatly passionate about. Every day, we will continue making a difference for our patients, consultants and teams.”
Al Russell adds: “Our mission as a hospital and charity is to advance clinical excellence for the benefit of the wider healthcare community. We are ambitious, underpinned by a refreshed strategy, a new brand and our commitment to growing our centres of excellence. Our people are critical to the journey.”