UCL GBSH Student of the Week: Sarah Tomkins

Background and Professional Journey 

My career in health and care began in the early 1990s, when I worked as a carer for a young boy with cerebral palsy before completing my paediatric nurse training. These early experiences shaped my understanding of the challenges faced by patients, families, and frontline practitioners.

Over the past three decades, I have held senior leadership roles across primary, secondary, tertiary, community care, and the justice system. I currently serve as Chief Executive Officer of a Social Enterprise NHS provider and Chair of a charitable community organisation. My work has focused on strategic transformation, governance, service innovation, and building inclusive, values‑driven cultures. Throughout my career, I have remained committed to the seven principles of public life, which continue to guide my leadership approach.

I have extensive experience working across NHS Trusts, Integrated Care Systems, local government, and the Voluntary Community Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector building partnerships, aligning priorities, and leading complex change. Academically, I hold Master’s degrees in Healthcare Management and Psychotherapy as a Means to Health, alongside qualifications in executive coaching, governance, and project management. These have strengthened my ability to lead integrated change and shape systems that prioritise quality, sustainability, and equity.

Pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration is a natural progression of my professional and academic journey. I am particularly interested in how leadership style, organisational culture, and strategic governance influence long‑term performance in public sector systems.

Why I Chose the DBA Health at UCL 

I chose the DBA Health at UCL because it offers the academic rigour and practical relevance needed to interrogate real‑world challenges. I am especially interested in how organisational culture shapes health outcomes and how partnerships between VCSE organisations and statutory bodies can be strengthened to build healthier, more resilient communities both in the UK and globally.

UCL’s focus on health inequalities, innovation, and leadership in complex systems aligns closely with the challenges I have led on, including integrated neighbourhood models and social enterprise governance. At this stage in my career, I want to contribute not only as a practitioner but also as a thought leader, and the DBA provides the structure and depth to generate insights with real‑world impact.

What the Programme Means to Me 

The programme has been transformative. It has expanded my analytical and research capabilities while reshaping how I think about leadership, evidence, and change.

Learning alongside a diverse global cohort has been one of the most enriching aspects, offering perspectives that challenge and deepen my own thinking.

My research focuses on the integration between the healthcare sector and the Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector, which has become an increasingly prominent feature of contemporary health system reform. Across the UK and internationally, policymakers have positioned VCSE organisations as essential partners in addressing complex population health needs, reducing health inequalities, and strengthening community‑based models of care. Yet despite this strategic emphasis, the degree to which healthcare systems successfully integrate with VCSE actors varies markedly across localities, service areas, and organisational contexts. This variability suggests that integration is not simply a structural or procedural challenge, but a deeper cultural and systemic phenomenon that warrants focused investigation.

As the VCSE sector plays an increasingly important role in addressing health inequalities, understanding how to build trust, alignment, and shared leadership frameworks is essential.

The DBA Health taught me that growth is equal parts courage, chaos, resilience and quietly crying over methodology, and honestly, I’ve never felt more alive through the opportunity to slow down, reflect, and turn experience into scholarship!.

My Goals for the Future 

Looking ahead, I aim to use my research to influence strategic decision‑making and contribute to more equitable, effective, and sustainable health systems. I hope to bridge the gap between research, policy, and practice by offering practical frameworks for leadership and cultural alignment in multi‑agency environments.

With my background in organisational and system leadership, I hope to add value to the DBA cohort through my experience in the NHS and VCSE sectors, my board‑level insight, and my commitment to collaborative, compassionate leadership. Ultimately, I want my work to help shape conditions where trust, shared accountability, and co‑produced solutions can thrive across health and care systems in our communities.