Dr Annette Doherty, Chair

Annette Doherty headshotDr Annette Doherty OBE FRSC trained as a chemist at Imperial College London.

She has 35 years of international experience working in the pharmaceutical sector, including at Warner-Lambert, Pfizer and most recently GSK where she was Senior Vice President, Global Head of Product Development and Clinical Supply. 

She has been directly involved in the research, development and launch of over 30 new medicines in respiratory, infectious diseases, cancer, and inflammatory conditions.

Dr Doherty was appointed Chair of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust in May 2024.

She was previously Chair of East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust and was a non-executive director (NED) at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

She is currently President of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a charity focussing on education, research and policy to advance the chemical sciences.

Dr Doherty is also a Member of the Tonbridge Grammar School Academy Trust and was previously a trustee at St John Ambulance. She is also a Council Member of Innovate UK, which is a part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

In 2009, she was awarded an OBE in recognition of her services to the pharmaceutical sector.

The Chair's role

The Chair of a trust board is a non-executive appointment, accountable to the Secretary of State for Health for giving leadership to the Board and ensuring it fulfils its full responsibilities.

The Chair is responsible for ensuring:

  • delivery of the strategy and ensure value for money
  • supervising the chief executive for delivering the strategy and performance.
  • responsible for assuring risks to the trust and the public are managed and mitigated effectively
  • providing efficient and effective healthcare
  • maintaining financial viability
  • promoting the highest standards of ethics, integrity, probity and corporate governance throughout the organisation and that the board meets legal and contractual obligations.

In their role as an ambassador, leading in developing relationships and partnership working, the chair is responsible for:

  • representing the organisation externally, developing and facilitating strong partnerships, and promoting collaborative, whole-system working through engagement with key partners across public, private and voluntary sectors, patients and the public, staff etc.

The Chair works with the Chief Executive to ensure the Board maintains its capacity and is continually developed in order to ensure it has ‘balance, completeness and appropriateness’ in the context of a changing NHS and wider healthcare environment.

In support of these responsibilities a key part of the Chair's role is a focus on the integration agenda, system leadership and partnership working.