SOMERSET NHS Foundation Trust has appointed Dr Rima Makarem as its new chairperson who will be joining in early 2025.

This comes after the current chair Colin Drummond OBE DL announced his intention to retire back in April. He had been chair since 2014, having overseen the merger of three NHS trusts that previously existed in Somerset, to create a single organisation.

During his time as chair the trust managed to secured significant investment through a range of transformative infrastructure, including an £80 million surgical centre currently under construction at Musgrove Park Hospital.

Dr Makarem has 15 years of experience working at board level within the NHS, and has worked at regional and national level. She has been chair of the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board (BLMK ICB) since 2020.

She trained as a scientist, and has held various senior roles within the global pharmaceutical industry. Other roles she has held include senior independent director and audit chair of the National Institute of for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and audit chair & external commissioner for the House of Commons Commission, working closely with the Speaker and the Leader of the house.

Peter Lewis, chief executive of the trust, said: “We are very excited to welcome Rima to Somerset. We have worked for many years to create a unique trust that provides primary care, community services, mental health and learning disability services and acute services. We want to continue capitalising on the opportunities that our range of services gives us.”