New chief executive takes over at ABMU
HEALTH chiefs have appointed a new chief executive for ABMU Health Board – months after granting the former post-holder a six-figure payout.
Tracy Myhill, who is currently chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (Wast), will take over the position early next year.
Ms Myhill has worked within the NHS for more than 30 years, in several board roles including executive director and national director.
The health board’s chairman Andrew Davies said: “Tracy has shown outstanding leadership in her career, particularly in leading Wast through major transformation, and I look forward to working with her in taking ABMU forward.
“Our newly appointed chief executive will join us on February 1, 2018.”
The appointment follows the departure of Paul Roberts, who held the position with ABMU Health Board for more than five years.
He left in March, when ABMU said he had stood down to pursue other healthcare roles. Previously, at the end of January, the health board had said Mr Roberts was unwell and was being replaced by his deputy on a temporary basis.
Mr Roberts, who earned around £200,000 a year, received £113,213 for the termination of his employment, plus a £50,000 payment in respect of an entitlement to payment in lieu of notice.
The settlement came as the board looks to cut spending by £25m this financial year, and was overspent by £34.6m in 2016-17, despite making large savings.
Tracy Myhill said: “It is a privilege to be given the opportunity to lead ABMU as its chief executive.
“I look forward to joining the health board and working with colleagues and partners for the benefit of the population served by ABMU. The Welsh Ambulance Service will remain very close to my heart and I’m very grateful for the opportunities it has provided for me in helping prepare me for the role at ABMU.”
In August last year Ms Myhill admitted to “totally underestimating” the enormity of the task when she had taken over as interim chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service two years earlier.
At the time there were major concerns about how it was being funded and managed.
She said last year: “Within three weeks of arriving I had trade unions threatening industrial action. The organisation had just been through three months of ‘if you don’t deliver on performance targets, [patients] were all going to die’.
“So I came in at a period where the only focus was ‘respond, respond, respond; time, time time’ and anyone who had any ability to be a responder was focusing solely on that. Nothing else was talked about.”