Hospital boss has history of ‘failure’
THE new interim chief executive of Southport & Ormskirk Hospitals was previously responsible for a trust which was rated inadequate – and another which was put into special measures because of a high mortality rate.
Karen Jackson, who was announced as the latest temporary boss on Tuesday, was also mired in controversy after taking a £25,000 pay rise shortly after North Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Trust was placed into special measures.
Mrs Jackson was widely criticised when her pay increased from £145,000 to £170,000 in August 2013, one month after a series of failures were found in a Government-ordered review by NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh.
Speaking at the time, Andrew Allison, from the TaxPayers’ Alliance – a group which campaigns against perceived government waste – said: “Mrs Jackson has been rewarded handsomely for failure.
“There’s no describe it.”
However, the trust argued that her original salary was below the average for similar roles and the pay rise brought her salary into line with others.
Dr James Whittingham, the trust’s chairman, argued that it would have been a “false economy” to continue paying below the market rate.
Mrs Jackson has most recently been working with NHS Improvement to lead work on improving urgent care service delivery across England.
Her role involved advising the senior NHS Improvement leadership team on its emergency care improvement programme.
However, before that she worked as Scunthorpe General other way to Hospital which in March 2016 was rated inadequate following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection.
The inspection raised concerns over falling standards at the hospital, while an internal survey found that only half of the trust’s staff would recommend it to friends and family.
In particular, the CQC highlighted issues including management, patient backlogs and waiting times, and staff turnover.
Mrs Jackson accepted full responsibility for the findings, saying:
“There is only one accountable officer and that is the role of chief executive.
“I am very clear about what we need to do sort this. Does it involve other people? Yes. Does that mean I need to get them to work in a different way? Yes.”
She officially starts her new role on Monday, April 17.
Southport & Ormskirk NHS Trust declined to comment.