Ema Ojiako, former Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development – Operations at NHS England, has been appointed Executive Director of People at NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Welcoming the appointment, Tracey Bleakley, Chief Executive Officer of NHS Norfolk and Waveney, said:

“I am really pleased to have appointed Ema as Executive Director of People. Ema really impressed us with her knowledge, skills and experience. She is a highly regarded Director with a huge amount of knowledge and experience in HR, organisation development and workforce transformation both in the NHS and in the private sector. Ema is passionate about people and seeing them reach their full potential and she will help us to drive forward improvements for our staff and the people of Norfolk and Waveney.”

Ema joins NHS Norfolk and Waveney from NHS England, where she worked as the Director of HR and OD Operations. She has held senior Human Resources positions in NHS provider organisations across acute, ambulance and mental health trusts and prior to joining the NHS in 2015 worked in the private sector with experience in food retail, facilities management and private healthcare.

Ema is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, an Employment Tribunals Lay member with Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and also serves on the board of Directors as a Trustee with the charities CAP UK and The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) where she is also the chair of the Renumeration and Nominations Committee.

Ema said: “I am delighted to have been appointed to this role. People are the greatest asset in any organisation, and I feel privileged in my role to be in a position of influence to drive strategy and change to make working lives better. I’m very excited about my new role in Norfolk and Waveney and am looking forward to meeting colleagues and experiencing the invaluable work that they all do in support people in Norfolk and Waveney lead longer, healthier and happier lives.”

NHS Norfolk and Waveney is the NHS organisation with responsibility for planning to meet local health needs, allocating resources, ensuring that services are in place to deliver against ambitions, and overseeing the delivery of improved outcomes for the people of Norfolk and Waveney.

The integrated care board (ICB) is part of the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System, working with partners in local government, the voluntary sector and others and helping the NHS to support broader social and economic development.

NHS Norfolk and Waveney is accountable for the performance and finances of the NHS across Norfolk and Waveney – a total budget of £2 billion a year. The organisation works with local people, health and care professionals, and partner organisations to improve the health and wellbeing of our population.

The ICB is one of two key bodies in the Norfolk and Waveney ICS, the other being the integrated care partnership that will bring together the NHS, local government, the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector and other partners to focus on prevention, wider social and economic factors affecting people’s health and reducing health inequalities.