In Conversation With Louise Parkes, CEO at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity
This is the second in a series of articles where Sandy Hinks, Head of the Charity Practice at Moon Exec Search talks with a wide range of her connections about their organisations, roles and the life lessons that drive them.
In this piece, Sandy spoke with Louise Parkes, Chief Executive Officer of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, about the organisation’s challenges, triumphs, lessons in leadership and the ‘magic’ of Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Hello Louise, could you tell me a little bit about Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and what you do as a charity?
I have the privilege of leading the most amazing charity with passionate and committed staff. The charity exists to support Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) itself, but also the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health where we fund vital research that means that we can get pioneering treatments into the hospital quicker and get a ‘bench to bedside’ treatment approach for children who are desperately in need of our help and support. Great Ormond Street Hospital treats the most seriously ill children from across the UK, so the charity raises money to support that.
We are a fundraising organisation that focuses on the impact we can have and the difference we can make. The key areas that we fund include the refurbishment and redevelopment of the hospital. We fund exciting big capital build projects and state-of-the-art equipment that wouldn't be funded on the NHS. These investments have a significant impact on the experiences of children and families in the hospital, for example our renovation of hospital wards has provided spacious, bright and modern en-suite bedrooms, improvements that are crucial when some children spend weeks or even months at GOSH receiving treatment. We’ve also recently funded a state-of-the-art intra-operative MRI scanner, which enables neurosurgeons to conduct brain scans mid-operation so they can assess if all of an affected area has been removed, and decide on whether further action is needed.
We also provide support to the families of patients in the hospital. And that can be in the way of parent accommodation, right on the doorstep. If you've got a seriously ill child, and they come to Great Ormond Street Hospital, you want to be as close as possible to make sure that you can be there for them at any moment.
We also fund an amazing team of play specialists and play workers that make the experience of being in hospital the most enjoyable that it possibly can be, as well as helping children come to terms with and manage any anxieties they have around their diagnosis or treatment. Having that fun and enjoyment is an important part of their experience whilst at the Hospital.
As you can imagine, as we come through the pandemic, there is a renewed focus around mental health and wellbeing of the staff at the hospital. The patients and families often talk about the ‘magic’ at Great Ormond Street Hospital, it is not just the world-leading treatment they received, but also the people who care for the children, they are genuinely passionate and go over and above.
That’s fascinating and as you say, what a privilege to work with such an amazing team.
Could you tell me a bit about your role as CEO at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity?
I have the most amazing job and my role is wide and varied. My role as CEO is to run the organisation, to set the vision and the strategy and to make it a great place to work for our 230 staff. On a day-to-day basis, it can be liaising with our corporate partners, meeting our fantastic donors; one of my favourite parts of the role is speaking to patients and their families and hearing first-hand the difference we have made. I also spend a lot of time also working with the hospital and finding out and what are the areas of greatest need, and working out:
‘How can we have the greatest impact?’
‘What difference can we make to the hospital, the patients, and their families?’
We also work with the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, identifying areas for research and we work with them to determine and inform our research strategy. Fundraising is still a big part of what we do as a charity. We need to ensure that we're investing our funds wisely and raising as much money as possible, in the most efficient way possible.
What is your future vision for the charity?
Our purpose as an organisation is to transform the lives of seriously ill children through research, care, and advocacy. My future vision for the organisation is to build on our amazing legacy of supporting the hospital and funding life saving research so we can give even more families the hope of finding a cure for their seriously ill child.
Great Ormond Street Hospital is world-renowned for being a pioneering hospital. When children and their families arrive at GOSH, it is sometimes their last chance for treatment or a cure.
I was at an event recently and heard a parent speaker talk about on how three occasions, he was told this was his child’s last chance. Thanks to GOSH, his child was given a brand-new, pioneering gene therapy at a time when otherwise, he’d have just a 10% chance of survival from a rare form of cancer. His son is now 22 and living a happy and fulfilled life. To hear these stories is just so inspirational and reminds me why I love my job so much. There is no greater advocate for the work that we do, than the families themselves and hearing them talk about the differences made to their child is truly motivating and inspiring.
I have two young children, thankfully, my kids are relatively healthy. My son went into Bristol Children’s Hospital last year, during COVID, to have some heart investigations. You do feel so helpless, that's your child and naturally your instinct is to protect them and help them.
It is so very special that Great Ormond Street Hospital can provide that help for the children, and all the amazing PR that you get I am sure helps with the fundraising for the charity. You hear about the charity so much in the news and the media. For me and I am sure everyone who reads this knows that Great Ormond Street Hospital is a real British institution, and a very important place.
Coming out of COVID, what challenges are you facing as an organisation?
On the horizon, we've got our largest capital build project ever and this will now be a major focus for the Charity and the Hospital. It will be a massive challenge in terms of fundraising for it, but also the logistics of building what will be a transformational new facility within the current hospital footprint.
The other challenges are those that every Charity CEO or organisation is facing, which is the ability to fundraise which has been significantly impacted by COVID. It has had a significant impact on us as an organisation in terms of our income.
Culturally, it has been difficult running an organisation remotely. Like most organisations, we have introduced hybrid working where we're asking people to return to the office two to three days a week, which hopefully will ensure that staff have a really positive work/life balance. I have really enjoyed going back into the office, seeing people and having informal conversations that only happen when you see each other face to face. A lot of people have missed being in a more social, interactive, office environment, but equally, some people have seen the benefit of working remotely so there are different challenges for them with the transition to hybrid working.
GOSH Charity is such a lovely place to work; we have amazing, passionate, and committed staff who really care for each other, however, one of the challenges has definitely been that the organisation has become a little more disconnected since we have been working remotely.
At Moon, we have found that there is a greater buzz and communication between the team by returning to the office albeit on a reduced capacity.
What do you think makes you a good business leader?
I think a good business leader is someone who learns, listens, and tries to understand different perspectives. They need to have vision and focus as well as strong business acumen. It is also about recognising your strengths and not being afraid to ask for support.
The role at GOSH Charity is my first CEO role, and being a CEO can be a lonely place, so it is important having people that you can reach out to and a good peer support network.
I am fortunate to have a very supportive board of Trustees and I also had a coach for my first 6 months in post. In addition, I was very lucky to be given a fantastic volunteer mentor who I worked with for over 12 months. Having someone completely external, who had experience of lots of different businesses, who I could just bounce things off was fantastic. The brilliant thing about my mentor was that she was such a positive person. Every time I had a session with her, I came away from the conversation feeling energised. I also think it is important to give back, having been lucky to benefit from mentors throughout my career I also get a lot from mentoring others.
The leaders that I speak with always value their network and the ones like you that have had mentoring I can see what a dramatic effect on them and their future. They feel lucky to have received guidance at specific parts of their careers and want to help give back. At Moon – our CSR policy and company ethos ensures that we work as trusted advisors for our clients, connections, candidates, and organisations. We believe that the stronger the relationships that we build with people from all walks of life will help us gain the understanding to create connections and add value to our offering.
What do you do outside of work to relax?
My love outside of work is playing hockey. I used to be hockey player, and all my three children play. I'd spent the last 10 years standing on the side of a hockey pitch, until one of the mums asked me to come and play for the team. This is my third year of going back to playing hockey, I absolutely love it and it keeps me fit, and I love the fact I play in the same team as my daughter. There's a fantastic social camaraderie. I also enjoy watching films and cooking and spending time with family and walking the dog.
It is so important to have those passions and hobbies. Lockdown has focused people on nature, their wellbeing and spending time outdoors. I have recently worked with sports-based charities such as Active Gloucestershire, West of England Sports Trust and Wiltshire and Swindon Sport CIC who are all focused on bringing health and activity to the general population. These initiatives are desperately needed post-lockdown.
Who would you say is your hero?
I had the privilege of working alongside Dame Kelly Holmes who is such an inspirational individual. She set up a charity post the Olympics as part of the Olympic legacy and I was a Trustee. It was it was an amazing charity which took retired sports people, and used them as mentors for disadvantaged young people, using all the discipline, training, and hardship that sports people have endured and using it to support and inspire others. Dame Kelly Holmes’s personal story is really motivating, she is so warm and committed, but also so determine and focussed.
Last question, what books are you reading?
I have just finished a book which was written by one of the players on my hockey team, and it was called ‘No Number Nine’. Not surprisingly it was about hockey and set around the Sydney Olympics, and it was a very enjoyable read. I also tend to have a few development books on the go. I'm a huge fan of Simon Sinek, and he talks about ‘the why’, which is so important when you're working in voluntary organisations and understanding the purpose of why we do, what we do.
There’s another one that I'm partway through is The Resilience Dynamic, and that's never been more needed than in the past 18 months. Personally, organisationally, nationally, we've had to be so resilient to face everything that we've been through since the start of the pandemic. Hopefully, fingers crossed - we're coming out of it.
Sandy concludes: ‘It was such a pleasure to meet Louise and hear about her role at GOSH Charity and passion for Great Ormond Street Hospital. Passion and commitment are some of the qualities needed to run a Charity Board’s and I can certainly see that in Louise. In my role, I meet many inspirational people and charities and that is the most thrilling aspect of my job. To see more of what I and my team do for our clients, visit our Charity Practice Case Studies.’
Click here to read the previous Q&A with Jeremy Lune, CEO of Cards for Good Causes.