04.11.16
Southern Health interim chair to carry out service review
Southern Health’s new interim chair is to head a review of potential service reconfigurations at the trust in the future.
Southern Health NHS FT, a mental health and learning disabilities trust, has been under fire since the death of 18-year-old Connor Sparrowhawk, a patient, in 2013. It subsequently emerged that it had failed to properly investigate more than 1,000 patient deaths.
NHS Improvement (NHSI) has required the trust to appoint Alan Yates, who has been its improvement director since April, as chair, following the resignation of Tim Smart, whom the regulator also appointed.
Anne Eden, executive regional managing director for the south at NHSI, said: “The trust has some excellent staff working hard to improve services for patients. We want to work with them, plus those who use the services and their families, to help design their future.
“It is good news that Alan has agreed to take on the role of interim chair, for a four month period. His skills and significant knowledge of the trust will be valuable in leading the trust through the many challenges ahead.”
NHSI said the review could lead to “a reconfiguration of services and transformation of the trust”. It will involve input from clinicians, patients, families and the wider health and social care economy and is due to publish its findings early next year.
While in his post, Smart announced that Southern Health’s learning disability services would transfer to Oxford Health NHS FT.
Yates has been chief executive of three different trusts, all of which included mental health and learning disabilities services, and was previously improvement director for Norfolk and Suffolk NHS FT, which was removed from special measures last month.
Katrina Percy, Southern Health’s former chief executive, resigned in August and then stood down from a new post advising local GP leaders after it emerged that the job had been created specially for her.
Julie Dawes, the trust’s substantive director of nursing, is now interim chief executive.
(Image c. Peter Facey)
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