Kentish Express Ashford & District
NHS trust appoints new head of finance
A health trust has appointed a new finance chief.
Phil Cave will take on the post of director of finance and performance at the East Kent NHS Trust (EKHUFT) which runs hospitals including the William Harvey Hospital i n Ashford.
The 40-year-old from Hythe was appointed after a lengthy interview and appointment process.
He will be taking on his duties from Nick Gerrard, who is stepping down from a fulltime post after 34 years in the National Health Service.
Mr Gerrard has been in the position since May 2015, when he was brought in to tackle the trust’s deficit at a time when it was struggling in special measures.
The d e f i c i t was reduced by £14m in this financial year, and Mr Gerrard has also set up a £32m savings programme for the current financial year.
The t r ust’s chief executive Matthew Kershaw said: “Nick will be a tough act to follow. He has helped deliver improvements to patient care which resulted in the trust being taken out of special measures in March this year.
“I am delighted that we have been able to attract a strong field of candidates. We were impressed with Phil’s passion for patient care, focus on improv- ing quality and experience across a wide range of NHS services, including in the acute sector.”
Mr Cave has previously worked as the executive director of finance and performance at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Trust and also worked with the South East London Group of Hospitals.
He is now deputy chief executive and finance director at Kent and Medway Social Care and NHS Partnership Trust and is the lead finance director for the Kent and Medway Sustainability and Transformation Programme.
Mr Kershaw hopes this knowledge of the NHS in Kent will hold Mr Cave in good stead. He said: “Phil’s local knowledge of the NHS across east Kent, as well as Kent and Medway and his financial and wider health service knowledge, will enable us to build on the improvements we have made and move forward at pace with our transformation journey.”
He will begin work in the autumn. Agnes Fell asleep on 3rd July 2017. Wife to Chris, mother of Alan, Charlotte, Thomas and Katriona, grandmother of 9 and great grandmother of 20. Will be sadly missed. The funeral will to take place on 28th July 12pm at the Baptist Church, Hythe Road to follow 1.20pm at Charing Crematorium.