Chairman, Deputy and Executive
Chairman
Mary O'Connor was appointed London Health Commission Chairman by Mayor of London, Boris Johnson on 8 September 2008.
Councillor Mary O'Connor was born in Cork, Republic of Ireland, moved to London on New Year's Eve 1960 to train as a nurse at Hillingdon Hospital. Mary went on to work at Ealing Hospital becoming Senior Nurse Manager before retiring in 1999. Mary was subsequently awarded an MBE for services to Accident and Emergency nursing in 2000.
Since 2002 Mary O'Connor has been a Conservative councillor in the London Borough of Hillingdon. She has pursued her passion for targeting health inequalities by chairing a range of local committees, including Health Scrutiny.
Mary's commitment to championing the needs of the vulnerable and tackling inequalities was demonstrated through her work with Hillingdon's Community Health Council and in chairing Hillingdon Council's Corporate Parenting Board and its Domestic Violence Executive and Forum. Mary is also Hillingdon Council's elected representative on the Fostering and Adoption Panels and is Chairman of Governors at Moorcroft Special Educational Needs Secondary School.
Councillor O'Connor chaired the Londonwide Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JOSC)November 2007 to April 2008 which brought together the 32 London Boroughs, the City of London and Essex and Surrey County Councils to respond to the Haelthcare for London proposals. Thus far this is the largest ever scrutiny review. NHS London and the 33 Primary Care Trusts involved have accepted all 34 recommendations from the first stage of this continuing consultation.
Deputy Chairman
The Chairman is supported by the Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Dr Simon Tanner.
Simon is Director of Public Health at NHS London and Health Adviser to the Mayor of London.
The membership of the Executive Group is under review and will be announced soon.
