Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust have announced that following a competitive recruitment process, Alex Stamp has been appointed as the new Chief Operating Officer for the Trust, taking over from Karen Breen who retires at the end of April.
Alex is currently Deputy Chief Operating Officer at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, and he will take up the post in April 2026.
Alex has worked in the NHS for more than 16 years, holding a range of service, performance and operations-based leadership roles including at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Moorfields Eye Hospital, and Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust.
He brings with him a strong background in planned and elective services, and in recent years has worked with clinical and operational teams to improve elective performance and patient flow and waiting times to ensure safe, high-quality, and efficient care for patients. Alex has also been an active member within Frimley ICB - leading their elective programme and working closely with colleagues on the new Thames Valley ICS elective programme. He will also bring with him very relevant experience at Frimley and working with teams on the implementation of same day emergency care and urgent treatment centre models to improve ED performance.
Trust Chief Executive, Andrew Hines said:
“I am delighted to be welcoming Alex Stamp to the Trust as our new Chief Operating Officer. He will take forward a number of exciting and critical new developments for our patients, including a new theatre block, an Urgent Treatment Centre and a major expansion of our same day emergency care services. I look forward to working with him when he joins SASH in the next few months."
Alex Stamp said: "I am delighted to be joining SASH, an organisation with a long history of putting the patients at the heart of everything they do, while continuing to explore opportunities to develop its clinical services in innovative ways. I’ve been struck throughout the process about the care and dedication which the teams at SASH put into patient care day-in-day out, and I look forward to working with them and taking forward the exciting developments which are coming up."