GamCare has named Chris Thornton as its new Director of Operations.
Prior to joining GamCare, Thornton was the Director of the North of England and the Isle of Man for the British Red Cross, where he was responsible for delivering health services, managing around 100 staff and £3m ($4.03m) in annual income from the NHS.
He has also worked with Primary Care Sheffield, where he led clinical services and led successful bids worth £22m; with St John Ambulance, where he increased charitable output by 365% while reducing costs by 61%; and served for eight years on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Fitness to Practise Committee.
Victoria Corbishley, GamCare CEO, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Chris to GamCare and to the Executive Leadership Team.
“He brings exactly the combination of strategic and operational leadership that reflects how we work, significant experience of leading complex health and community services at scale, a strong track record of evidencing impact, and a deep commitment to reaching people who are often underserved.
“I look forward to working closely with him as we continue to deliver and develop our national services.”
In his new role, Thornton will be responsible for the delivery and effectiveness of GamCare’s national and regional services, such as the National Gambling Helpline.
Although Thornton does not come from a gambling background, he has proven himself in leading healthcare initiatives across diverse regions.
On his appointment, Thornton said: “I’m thrilled to join GamCare at such an important moment for the organisation and for everyone working to reduce gambling harms across the UK.
“GamCare operates at national scale, running the UK’s only round-the-clock specialist support service for gambling harms, combining the National Gambling Helpline, live chat, online communities and self-guided tools with thousands of structured treatment sessions and prevention and education programmes reaching tens of thousands of people each year.
“That combination of specialist expertise, integrated delivery and frontline impact is rare in any sector, and is shaping how effective support for gambling harms is understood and delivered. I’m looking forward to building on those foundations and to playing my part in ensuring GamCare’s services continue to meet growing demand as the sector evolves.”
Thornton joins GamCare at a critical point in the organisation, particularly as funding is changing and NHS England is likely to be abolished and brought under the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
As a volunteer on the Investigations Panel at the Chartered Management Institute, Thornton examines complaints of unprofessional conduct made against other CMI members and make recommendations to the complaints committee as appropriate
