Sarah Southall
Chair for OneWolverhampton Place Based Partnership
“I feel incredibly honoured to be representing the voice of primary care, and supporting the partnership to achieve its transformational aspirations in reducing health inequalities, and making a difference for our people. Our people, being the citizens who live in Wolverhampton and use our services, as well as the staff who work within them, because transformation brings opportunity for them as well.”
Sarah has been working in healthcare for over 30 years in Wolverhampton having started her career working at New Cross, as a receptionist in the psychiatric outpatient’s department, in 1992. Since then, she has undertaken a number of different roles including secretarial, supervisory and management of services including health and personal safety, security and waste management. Then worked in the commissioning setting for a number of years heading up the Quality and Safety Team and Primary Care. These roles have given her wide experience across multiple settings including acute, community, primary care and commissioning.
Her more recent roles have seen her focus on GP retention and the transformation of primary care across the Black Country, as Programme Director for Primary Care Workforce. This is an area which she has a real interest and desire in supporting and recognises the importance of partnership working as a key driver to providing care in a more joined up way, benefitting patients and professionals.
She is passionate about shared learning and skill development and seeing people develop at work. She believes the enthusiasm and commitment by those working across the city, and being empowered to make a difference, will be what brings about real change.
Her aspiration is to see more joined up working and personalised care plans that are developed with multi-professional input, as well as closer working with the voluntary and community sector and citizens, to get a true representation of what matters most to the people of Wolverhampton. Outside of work Sarah has two sons and one granddaughter who she describes as ‘the apple of her eye’ and loves to spend time with. She loves to travel, spending time with family and friends and having new experiences. She confesses to be terrible at star spotting and once wondered who her husband was chatting to, only to find out it was Ali Campbell from UB40!