Chief executive to leave hospital role
THE ‘tenacious’ and ‘inspirational’ boss of Halton and Warrington hospitals is stepping down to take up a similar role in Yorkshire.
Mel Pickup, chief executive at Warrington And Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is moving on to become chief executive and system leader for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Bradford District And Craven Health And Social Care System.
Steve McGuirk CBE, WHH chairman, said Professor Simon Constable, deputy chief executive and executive medical director, will serve as interim chief executive while a review takes place into the trust’s ‘ambitions to become an integrated health and social care trust’.
Mr McGuirk congratulated Ms Pickup on her appointment and expressed his gratitude for
her work on behalf of WHH’s 4,400 staff.
He paid tribute to her as a ‘highly motivated, focussed and energetic chief executive with a strong track record of achievement’, adding that she had steered the trust through the process of becoming a foundation trust and the ‘monumental changes’ of the Health And Social Care Act of 2012’.
As well as laying the foundations of a programme to build a new hospital in Warrington, she also kickstarted a bid to redevelop Halton General Hospital as a hospital and wellbeing campus – but hit with bitter disappointment when a request for £40m of funding for the scheme was snubbed.
Her tenure will also be remembered by some as a time when the trust wrestled with intense period of demand, including for Warrington’s accident and emergency department during cold spells.
She was also in place during times of financial peril when WHH had to contend with a massive deficit that spiralled to £19.9m at its peak before being reined back in.
WHH has been rocked by controversy in recent weeks also when its paidoperations MyChoice scheme for ‘ non-clinical priority’ procedures was roundly slammed.
The trust was also poised to lose its contract running the Runcorn urgent care centre before an outcry and protests blocked plans to hand the work to a private company.
WHH was hit by scandal in August last year when Warrington A&E turned away Runcorn fireman Paul Smith suffering a heart attack.
He later died and the consultant involved has since admitted he ‘made a mistake’.
A Runcorn mum also suffered heartbreak last year when medics failed to spot the symptoms of sepsis in her toddler son with tragic, fatal consequences.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) graded the trust as ‘requires improvement’ after the watchdog’s last inspection in 2017, and is due to publish updated findings soon.
Paying tribute to Ms Pickup, Mr McGuirk said: “She leaves a legacy of commitment to and investment in high quality care for our patients.
“This includes very high levels of patient recommendation across all of our services, driving down mortality rates at the trust (now in the ‘as expected’ range) and better waiting times and outcomes for patients across a wide range of indicators.
“We await our Care Quality Commission report which is imminent and feel confident that this important and independent test of quality will show significant improvements since our last inspection in 2017.
“She has also launched the extensive programme of work that will take us to a new hospital for Warrington and our proposed hospital and wellbeing campus at Halton.
“Our staff reported the best-ever response and results in the national staff opinion survey this year and under Mel’s encouragement, we are among the top five trusts in the country to take up their flu vaccinations.
“More widely, Mel has been tenacious in working towards sustainability through collaboration and we have recently announced exciting plans for the future with our community colleagues Bridgewater Community Health NHS FT.
“Our recent participation in the procurement exercise for the urgent care centres in Runcorn and Widnes was a strong combined offer with GP colleagues and the community trust. She has also led the Cheshire And Merseyside Health And Care Partnership during the past 18 months.
“She has been an inspirational leader who displays commitment, authenticity and passion and I speak on behalf of the whole Team WHH family when I say that she will be sadly missed.” ●