Hospitals chief executive appointed
WARRINGTON And Halton hospitals’ (WHH) council of governors has promoted its medical director to chief executive as the trust also changed its name.
A statement issued by WHH last Thursday said the appointment of Professor Simon Constable was ratified following an intensive assessment process that finished earlier in the week.
Professor Constable took up the post with immediate effect as he has been acting chief executive since Mel Pickup left the trust at the end of October.
A WHH spokeswoman said he joined the trust as medical director in 2015 from the Royal Liverpool And Broadgreen University Hospitals and was appointed deputy chief executive in February 2016.
Professor Simon Constable is a consultant physician and clinical pharmacologist by background.
He studied medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals in London.
Undertaking postgraduate training in the UK and New Zealand, he had several clinical leadership roles at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals.
Prior to taking up the post at WHH, he joined the NHS Leadership Academy Executive Fast Track Programme working with Harvard University and the Institute For Healthcare Improvement on clinical leadership, staff engagement and transformational change within the NHS.
He is a visiting professor at The University Of Chester.
Steve McGuirk CBE DL, WHH chairman and chair of the council of governors, said: “The board moved quickly to recruit and appoint our new chief executive and we are confident that Simon has the vision, ambition and leadership qualities required to lead the trust on its continuing journey to ‘outstanding’.
“I know that our staff will be delighted to hear of his appointment and together we wish Simon every success in his new role.”
The governors also approved the updated foundation trust (FT) constitution, changing the trust’s name to Warrington And Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS FT.
The spokeswoman said this was the culmination of three years’ work to develop and diversify the trust’s 4,400 workforce to meet the future needs of a fast growing and ageing patient population.
The trust’s academic partner, The University Of Chester, has endorsed the trust’s teaching status.
Mr McGuirk said: “This has been a monumental year for the trust with the CQC (Care Quality Commission) awarding a clean-sweep ‘good’ across our inspected services in July.
“Becoming a teaching trust is an important milestone on our journey as our extensive and diverse teaching opportunities will make our hospitals even more attractive places to work when candidates have more than one choice.”
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