Two new group directors appointed at Royal Surrey and Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts | News

This week, Royal Surrey and Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts announced two new Group Director appointments.

Royal Surrey’s Director of Strategy, Chris Attoe, will move into the role of Group Director of Strategy. This follows a temporary group role he took on while covering for his Ashford and St Peter’s counterpart, Tom Smerdon, who has now returned from a six-month secondment with community provider CSH Surrey. Tom will take up a new position across both trusts as Group Director of Neighbourhood Health.

Louise Stead, Group Chief Executive, said:

“I’m really pleased to have Chris and Tom both working across the group. Carving out two closely-linked but distinct roles in this way enables us to align our strategy and neighbourhood work across the two trusts.

“Establishing these links will create multiple opportunities to achieve more, at a faster pace, so it’s clear 2026 will be a year of great potential.”

Tom brings extensive NHS experience, having held executive roles in operational management and strategy across both acute and community services. During his recent secondment, he served as Interim Chief Executive for CSH Surrey, a social enterprise providing NHS community services in the North West Surrey area. Prior to this, he led the strategy function at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals, developing corporate and clinical strategy and overseeing transformation across the wider North West Surrey health system.

Tom said:

“I am pleased to take up this exciting new neighbourhood group role. I’ve been part of Ashford and St Peter’s and the local health system for over 12 years and my recent time at CSH Surrey has provided very valuable experience in community services and the evolving neighbourhood space. 

“The opportunity to also be part of Royal Surrey is really exciting and I’m looking forward to working with teams across both trusts to deliver the ambitions of the NHS ten year plan locally – reducing pressure on our hospitals and bringing care closer to home for our patients.”

Speaking about his new role setting the strategic vision for both trusts, Chris Attoe said:

“I’m delighted to take up the substantive group director of strategy role. Having looked after the strategy portfolio for the last six months during Tom’s secondment I already feel very much part of the Ashford and St Peter’s team and look forward to continuing to work with excellent colleagues across both trusts.

“There is a lot of overlap in the strategy and neighbourhood work and an abundance of positive opportunity in the years ahead. I look forward to working closely with Tom and our teams to enable our group to transform care for our patients and staff.”

Royal Surrey and Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals formed a Group in January 2025. These appointments now bring the total number of Group Executive roles to four, including Louise Stead, Group Chief Executive and Ruth Colburn-Jackson as Group Director of Transformation and Digital.