04.02.19
New chief executive appointed to King’s College Hospital Trust in financial special measures
King’s College Hospital Trust (KCHT) has appointed Clive Kay as its new chief executive as it tries to tackle a budget deficit of over £100m and drive itself out of financial special measures.
One of the largest hospital trusts in England, KCHT has announced that Kay, currently the chief executive of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS FT, will join the London trust on 1 April.
King’s College was placed in financial special measures by NHS Improvement in December 2017 after chief executive Ian Dalton reported that the “financial situation at King’s had deteriorated seriously” and has a projected a deficit of more than £140m by the end of the year.
Clive Kay leaves Bradford after 12 years at the trust, and paid tribute to his time there. He said: “I am leaving many wonderful colleagues not only in Bradford Teaching Hospitals, but throughout the entire local health and care system in Yorkshire and Humber.
“However, I am looking forward to joining the team at King’s and working alongside all its outstanding and highly-committed staff. I feel immensely proud and privileged to have been given the opportunity to lead such a prestigious organisation.”
Kay replaces the interim chief executive Peter Herring, who took over when Nick Moberly left the trust in March 2018.
This followed the departure of Lord Kerslake who resigned as chairman of the trust in protest against historic underfunding in the NHS, stating the government are unrealistic about the scale of the challenge facing the NHS and King’s College.
The budget deficit at King’s was reported as £38.8m, but over the course of 2017-18 this rose to £70.6m and then to £92m, ending the year with a deficit of £130m and being placed in special measures by NHSI.
When placing it into special measures, Dalton acknowledged the wider financial and operational challenges facing trusts, but stated that “none has shown the sheer scale and pace of the deterioration at King’s.”
In November, a former IT manager was awarded £1m in compensation after an employment tribunal found that the trust has unfairly dismissed him and racially discriminated against him.
Nicola Ranger will also join the trust, taking up the role of chief nurse and executive director of midwifery after leaving Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust.