Claire Burden has worked in a wide range of NHS services since joining the NHS in 1989 to train as a paramedic. She led the redesign of the emergency control centres during the mergers of the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Ambulance Services and went on to work with the national team for the roll out of NHS Direct.
Since 2001 Claire has held positions that have required service specific or whole systems transformation; as a Commissioner she was the local lead for Reforming Emergency Care, this included supporting the local Acute Trust to redesign an innovative combined A&E and Acute Assessment model. As an inaugural member of the National Emergency Care Intensive Support Team (NHS England) Claire worked with local health systems to find sustainable solutions to the complex demands of non-elective and elective patient flows.
Following this national role Claire transitioned to the acute sector as the Deputy Chief Operating Officer for the Birmingham Children’s Hospital where she supported the new hospital development and delivered the redesign of the emergency and radiology departments alongside the redesign of outpatients. From Birmingham Claire moved to London to joined Barts Health NHS Trust as part of the leadership team appointed post the CQC service improvement notices.
Claire led the Royal London Hospital as the Hospital Director in 2019, held a group hospital role of Emergency Care Improvement (2020) covering the 5 hospital sites, before taking the Deputy CEO post at Whipps Cross Hospital. From March 2020 Claire was the Acting CEO and led the hospital team through the delivery and response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.