GMMH’s latest Stakeholder Bulletin (June 2026) opens with Chief Executive Karen Howell reflecting on her retirement after 47 years in the NHS. She writes with pride about the progress made during her time at the Trust and asks colleagues and stakeholders to support her successor, Chris Oliver, in continuing that journey.

No one doubts the commitment Karen Howell brought to the role. But the reality is that she simply wasn’t in post long enough to demonstrate whether the profound cultural changes GMMH requires have truly taken root.
The challenges facing the Trust were never going to be resolved in a matter of months. Years of organisational failure, exposed through independent reviews and the experiences of patients, carers and bereaved families, demand sustained leadership over many years—not just the introduction of new programmes and positive messages.

There are signs of progress, and staff deserve credit for the improvements that have been made. But trust is earned over time, through consistent openness, accountability and safer care—not through stakeholder bulletins or farewell reflections.

Karen Howell  asks staff and stakeholders to give the same support to her successor, Chris Oliver.

It is an upbeat farewell.

But it is only one account of her time as Chief Executive.

Many patients, carers and bereaved families will remember a very different period—one marked by independent reviews, failures in care, repeated concerns about openness, and years spent fighting to have their voices heard.
That history cannot simply be closed by a retirement message.

NHS England has recognised improvements, staff have worked tirelessly, and there are encouraging developments across many services. These achievements deserve recognition.
Yet progress is not the same as trust.

The real legacy of any Chief Executive is not measured by awards, strategies or stakeholder bulletins. It is measured by whether patients are safer, whether families are treated as partners, whether concerns are welcomed rather than resisted, and whether the organisation is open when things go wrong.

Chris Oliver inherits an organisation that has undoubtedly improved, but one that still has work to do to rebuild public confidence.
His greatest challenge will not be introducing new initiatives.

Chris Oliver’s challenge is that he  inherits an organisation that has begun an important journey but has not yet reached its destination. His success will not be judged by how well GMMH tells its own story, but by whether patients, carers and families begin to experience a genuinely different culture—one where concerns are welcomed, mistakes are acknowledged, and accountability is seen as a strength rather than a threat.

It will be demonstrating that GMMH has embraced a culture where accountability matters as much as performance, transparency matters as much as reputation, and families no longer have to fight to be heard.
That—not the tone of a farewell message—will determine whether this leadership transition represents a genuine new chapter.

Only then will GMMH be able to say that lasting change has been achieved.