Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Chief set to leave before results of inquiry published
Controversy-hit four years at hospitals trust
The chief executive of east Kent’s scandal-hit hospitals trust is to step down next year.
Susan Acott will be leaving in the spring - just four years after taking up the role.
It means her departure will likely come before the results of an inquiry into the standard of maternity care at the trust are published.
Mrs Acott oversaw the trust - which operates hospitals in Margate, Canterbury, Ashford, Dover, and Folkestone - during one of the most turbulent times in its history.
She took over the role in 2017 when former chief executive Matthew Kershaw stepped down shortly after the trust recorded some of the worst A&E waiting times in England.
She acted first as interim chief executive in October 2017, before being given the role on a permanent basis in March 2018.
Mrs Acott’s tenure has included a maternity scandal sparked by the “wholly avoidable” death of baby Harry Richford at the QEQM hospital in November 2017.
The Care Quality Commission started a formal criminal investigation - the first of its kind into baby Harry’s death in October 2019.
In April this year, the East Kent Hospitals Trust pleaded guilty to the charge that it caused Harry and his mother Sarah Richford, from Birchington, harm by failing to provide safe care and treatment. It was
fined £733,000 at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court in June.
In an interview last year, Mrs Acott said there had been “six or seven” avoidable baby deaths at the trust since 2011. But the hospital trust’s board later admitted the number could be as many as 15 in seven years.
The trust is now the focus of an independent inquiry by Dr Bill Kirkup, looking into the standard of maternity and neonatal care in east Kent since 2009.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the trust has also come under fire for apparent issues regarding infection control.
At one point last July, almost a quarter of all Covid-related deaths in the country took place at hospitals in east Kent, prompting concerns over in-hospital transmission of the virus.
The CQC visited the William Harvey last August and found a string of concerning issues, including staff not washing their hands properly and lacking clarity on Covid testing methodolgy.
The trust made a number of improvements following the visit.
A spokesman for the Trust said Mrs Acott is leaving her role to “pursue her interests in helping improve health and wellbeing in coastal communities”.
Mrs Acott said: “When I came to east Kent I came knowing the trust faced a number of challenges but I was impressed by the quality and calibre of our staff and a number of high-quality services we were able to provide.
“It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work alongside the staff, our partners, governors and the board and to have the opportunity to bring about a number of changes and improvements for our patients.”
The chairman of East Kent Hospitals, Niall Dickson CBE, said Mrs Acott has “done a remarkable job” and the search for her successor has begun.
He highlighted how before the pandemic she had overseen a reduction in A&E waiting times, and faster treatment for cancer patients.
He added: “She has also been key in attracting the investment for our new intensive care unit which is currently being built and the expansion of our two emergency departments.”
‘This is the right time to step aside and for the trust to find its next CEO’