Posted on: 19 December 2025
Claire Murdoch, CNWL's Chief Executive, sent this message to everyone connected to CNWL this year.
Happy Christmas
I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone connected to CNWL this year - whether our staff in frontline or support services, our external partners, or the hundreds of thousands of patients and their families we connect with every day.
On behalf of the Board and everyone connected to our Trust: thank you.
Importantly, I want to say a special thank you to everyone working shifts over the Christmas and New Year bank holidays too. I’ll be joining the Bed Capacity Call with teams on Christmas Day - see you there if you’re joining it too!
Our CNWL NHS Health Charity team has been busy visiting sites this week, delivering wellbeing boxes to staff working on Christmas Day and to patients who will be spending the day in hospital. This huge effort was made possible thanks to the QTS team, who helped the charity get around all our sites. In total, 39 deliveries were made, covering 151 wards and teams with 1,372 boxes for staff and 774 boxes for patients delivered as a heartfelt thank you.
I know not everyone at connected to CNWL celebrates Christmas - we’re always respectful of everyone’s beliefs and backgrounds - but to those of all faiths and none, I hope this festive period brings you peace and some rest. I’d also like to wish all Jewish friends and colleagues a very happy Hanukkah - the Festival of Lights - which began on the evening of 14 December and runs to 22 December.
As we reflect on 2025 it is more important than ever that we stand together in condemnation of any poor, threatening or violent behaviour that unfortunately we’re seeing too often around the world. Here at CNWL, we must continue to uphold the values of inclusion, kindness and solidarity that define our work. We do this not just for ourselves, but for our patients, their families and their communities.
Looking back at 2025
This year has been full of challenges, but also remarkable achievements that we can all take pride in. A few of this year’s highlights include:
- The Princess Royal visited CNWL Occupational Therapists in Brent to explore their leading research on reducing health inequalities.
- Our Community Services Month campaign really shone a light on the fabulous work of our teams who deliver care outside of hospital settings – with almost 800 people attending our events to hear more about it!
- The Mental Health Crisis Assessment Service (MHCAS), which has reduced admissions and saved significant amounts of public money, received national and international attention
- CNWL was designated as the integrator organisation for Hillingdon which was confirmed as one of 43 sites across the country to benefit from the government’s new neighbourhood health plans
- Our pioneering work in sexual health, including supporting the launch of the world’s first gonorrhoea vaccine.
- We partnered with the Royal Ballet and Opera on a new community project working with individuals living with mental health conditions to explore the healing power of the arts.
- One NHS Finance has won the ‘Workforce Initiative of the Year’ award at the recent HSJ Awards for the NHS Finance Insights Placement Scheme
- We opened up the conversation about the Trust’s journey with the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF).
- We ended the year with the brilliant ‘Pitch Perfect’ competition showing our way of doing things through commitment to patients and innovation, right across the Trust. A stunning example of the amazing colleagues that you all are with 188 entries!
Look after yourself
I hope you all get some rest and enjoy the festive season, but I know this can also be a difficult time of year. This season can be especially hard for those who have lost loved ones, are far from home, or are worried about loved ones in places of conflict. My thoughts are with you all.
Thank you for everything you do. Here’s to 2026.
Best wishes,
Claire
