Chief Executive of Mountbatten, Nigel Hartley MBE, has announced he will retire in October 2025 after spending over a decade with the hospice organisation.
Nigel joined Mountbatten in 2015, in the wake of a period of difficulty and challenge for the charity. He worked quickly with the team to achieve the financial and organisational stability that was needed.
Together with staff, volunteers, supporters and other stakeholders, Nigel has continued to work to develop Mountbatten into one of the most successful and largest hospice services in the country, delivering care and support to the growing number of people who need it.
Nigel said:
“I wanted to give Sir Ian Cheshire, our chair of the trustee board, plenty of time to appoint my successor as it is critical to find the right person to lead Mountbatten into the future.”
The ‘Mountbatten model’ now includes: 24/7 care in the home; a care coordination approach, where people are referred earlier to avoid crisis; and the Advance Care Planning programme, aimed at engaging the whole community.
Under Nigel’s watch, Mountbatten has also developed a hugely successful community engagement model, with a focus on changing perceptions around death, dying and bereavement and the work Mountbatten does; with its hospice buildings open to the public, welcoming everyone.
In 2019, Nigel led the creation of the Mountbatten Hospice Group, introducing both shared best practice and leadership, between Mountbatten Isle of Wight and Mountbatten Hampshire (formerly Hampshire’s Countess Mountbatten Hospice).
Nigel has worked in hospices for almost four decades, holding positions at London Lighthouse (the UK’s first centre for those living with HIV/AIDS), Sir Michael Sobell House in Oxford and also at London’s St Christopher’s Hospice, where the modern hospice movement was born.
In 2023, in King Charles III’s first birthday honours list, he became a Member of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition of his work and influence in the sector.
Nigel added:
“Working with everyone involved with Mountbatten has been the highlight of my career. Due to my own personal experience of looking after a friend with AIDS in the early 1980s, I have always remained driven to ensure no-one coming to the end of life is ever ignored and that everyone who needs it has access to the best possible care and support.
“I will retire in October 2025 but, in the meantime, there is still much to be done, particularly the need to achieve a fairer funding agreement for hospices with the local NHS Integrated Care Board.
“I look forward to continuing to work together with everyone involved over the coming year, maintaining a critical focus on the benefits Mountbatten can bring to each and every member of our community.
“Following retirement, I intend to continue to live on the Isle of Wight and to contribute fully to the communities which Mountbatten serves.”
Mountbatten will commence an external recruitment process for a new Chief Executive shortly.
