Health boss quits after criticism but takes new role on same pay

THE OUTGOING boss of a heavily-criticised health trust is still to be employed by the organisation in a new role – pulling in the same pay and benefits of around £240,000 a year.

Katrina Percy announced her decision to stand aside as chief executive of the Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust but she is to stay on as a strategic adviser, a trust spokeswoman said.

Ms Percy will be “providing strategic advice to local GP leaders” and her salary will not change, the spokeswoman added.

Last year, Ms Percy earned a salary of at least £185,000, plus at least £52,500 in pension-related benefits.

Ms Percy said she was stepping aside from the top job after her position became “untenable”.

The trust has been the subject of independent government reviews since it was revealed it failed to investigate the unexpected deaths of hundreds of its patients between 2011 and 2015.

In a statement, Ms Percy said: “I have reflected on the effect the ongoing personal media attention has had on staff and patients and have come to the conclusion that this has made my role untenable.

“I have therefore come to the difficult decision to step down from my role as chief executive after nine years. I am delighted to be taking on an alternative role, providing strategic advice to local GP leaders as they work with others to transform the way in which health services are delivered across Hampshire, and I feel that now is the right time to take on that new challenge.”

The Trust said Julie Dawes, who joined the organisation in May as director of nursing and quality, is now acting as interim chief executive.

Tim Smart, interim chairman of the Trust, added: “Katrina has come to the conclusion that due to the significant focus on her as an individual, it is in the best interests of the Trust, patients and staff for her to step down. I have agreed, on the basis that her position has become untenable because of ongoing personal media attention.

“Katrina has ensured that Southern Health is now working more closely with other health and care organisations in the region to provide more joined up care, so more people receive support at the right time and place.”

Southern has been under intense scrutiny following the deaths of hundreds of patients, including 18-year-old Connor Sparrowhawk who died in 2013.

In October, a jury inquest ruled that neglect contributed to the death of Mr Sparrowhawk, who drowned after an epileptic seizure at Slade House in Headington, Oxfordshire.

But in April, inspectors concluded that the trust was still failing to protect patients from risk of harm.

Care Quality Commission inspectors found that robust arrangements to probe incidents, including deaths, had not been put in place, resulting in “missed opportunities” to prevent similar events.

In December, an independent investigation found Southern Health had failed to probe the deaths of hundreds of people since 2011. Southern Health is a mental health trust providing services to 45,000 people across Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. It employs 9,000 staff who work from sites, including community hospitals, health centres, inpatient units and social care services.

I have come to the difficult decision to step down from my role. Katrina Percy, chief executive of the Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust