Publish date: 2 February 2022
Reducing inequalities a key focus for Northumbria Healthcare’s new board member
A new non-executive director has joined the board of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Steve McKinlay, the current chief executive of Tyne Housing Group, brings to the trust a wealth of expertise in supported housing and tackling homelessness. Through housing, support, training and investment in North East communities, Tyne Group exists to help people get to a better place.
He joined the Tyne team in early 2019 on the back of more than 20 years’ experience working with homeless people and 13 years’ experience in management and leadership.
Prior to joining Tyne, he held the position of area director (north) with Depaul UK, overseeing services such as supported and dispersed accommodation and prevention services.
Alongside this, Steve worked on secondment as a specialist adviser at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, acting as a local voice in national policy.
Within this role, he was able to help local authorities implement the Homelessness Reduction Act and the Rough Sleeping Initiative, which reversed the rising trend of people sleeping rough in England for the first time in a decade.
Speaking about his new appointment, Steve said: “I’m delighted to join the board of Northumbria Healthcare and look forward to getting involved with the trust’s important work across Northumberland and North Tyneside.
“I have long been focused on working to reduce the inequalities which exist in our society and getting involved directly with the healthcare sector as the NHS embarks on a focused drive to do the same is a great opportunity to share expertise and learn from each other.”
Northumbria Healthcare last year launched a Health Inequalities Programme Board, chaired by leading public health consultant Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard. Its goal is to identify exactly what the inequalities are in our communities and developing meaningful ways of tackling them.
Also in 2021, the trust launched its Community Promise, a pledge to focus on all the ways it can improve people’s lives based on six key pillars, which relate to the wider factors that fuel health inequalities – poverty, employment, education, economy, environment, wellbeing.
Alan Richardson, Northumbria Healthcare’s chairman, said: “I would like to welcome Steve to the board in the knowledge that his background and expertise will bring new insight, views and challenge to the work we are doing here.
“On behalf of our staff, governors and the trust board, I also want to thank Malcolm Page, who has stood down, for all his efforts and the valuable role he has played since joining the trust board in April 2017.”
Media contact
Ben O’Connell, media and communications officer, Northumbria Healthcare
Benjamin.O’Connell@northumbria-healthcare.nhs.ukor 07833 046680.