Hospital trust in search for new chief exec
Praise for leader who departs after two years in role
THE trust which runs Southport and Ormskirk’s hospitals is again looking for a new chief executive following the departure of Trish Armstrong-Child.
Ms Armstrong-Child had held the role for almost two years but is now set to move on to the same role at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The departure marks the latest in a series of changes in leadership at Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust and calls are once again being made for more stability. Ms Armstrong-Child was appointed to the role in September 2019 following the departure of Silas Nicholls who himself had lasted less than two years.
The change comes amid uncertainty surrounding how services can return to normal post-pandemic and the longer term issue of the how services can operate across the two sites.
Earlier this year, a Shaping Care Together (SCT) review was launched to ask for feedback on how services currently run and can be improved.
Those with knowledge of the running of the hospitals have paid tribute to the work done by Ms ArmstrongChild and the improvements made during her tenure.
Southport MP Damien Moore said she left the hospital in a better position than when she arrived having done good work.
He said: “I think it’s quite sad in some ways because we’ve had three chief executives in four years.
“The hospital is moving on leaps and bounds and Trish was part of that leadership team.”
He added: “I’ve always said we need stability. I would urge those interviewing for that leadership position to be looking at the situation.
“I think it’s been difficult for a number of years now but things have been getting a lot better.
“We’ve had three chief executives in four years and we need stability. We need to give staff that stability and give them confidence.
“Leadership is important when you’re going through challenges, be it the pandemic or Shaping Care Together.”
In an email to hospital staff, Ms Armstrong-Child praised their work throughout the pandemic and said that they “have showed yourselves to be the very best the NHS can offer”.
Speaking publicly about her departure, she said: “When I joined the trust, I could never have imagined that I would be leading the organisation and its staff through a global pandemic. What seemed an ‘impossible ask’ of us 18 months ago saw the staff of Southport and Ormskirk rise to the challenge and, in the face of adversity, continue to serve the patients and the community when they needed us most.
“This organisation has much to be proud of and I feel immensely proud to have been a part of it.”
Trust chair Neil Masom added:
“Trish has been an outstanding chief executive, guiding the organisation with skill and compassion through an extraordinarily challenging period. We wish her all the very best in her new role.”
In recent years, the prospect of both hospitals being replaced by a new, single site have been mooted, though that now does not appear to be a likely prospect. Meanwhile, the Health Service Journal this week reported that the trust could be ‘taken over’ by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals Trust in the wake of Ms Armstrong-Child’s departure.
The journal noted that “there has long been an acceptance in senior circles that the trust has no future as a separate organisation”.
A source told the Advertiser that suggestions of a takeover were inaccurate but said there was a possibility of services being shared across multiple trusts following the review.