Movers and shakers news round-up

The latest roster of appointments in the UK healthcare industry includes movements at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Barts Health NHS Trust and NHS Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

Professor Tim Orchard has been appointed chief executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

Orchard was previously executive director of the trust’s medicine and integrated care division and professor of gastroenterology at Imperial College. He has acted as interim medical director since December 2017.

Orchard took up his new position on 7 June, taking over from Julian Redhead.

He said: “Imperial has an excellent track record in advancing care and treatment as well as a talented and diverse workforce with big aspirations for what we want to achieve for the future.

“We also have increasingly strong partnerships with our patients, communities and partners. I see my role as being to ensure we make the most of the huge potential of all of that experience, expertise and commitment.

“We have to develop services and ways of working together that really make a difference to the quality of our care and the health of our population.”

Paula Head has been made chief executive of University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.

Head steps into her new role on 1 September, taking over from Fiona Dalton, who left the trust in March to head up Providence Healthcare in Canada.

The former pharmacist has previously held senior roles at NHS East Berkshire CCG and Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, where she also served as CEO.

Head said: “I have been extremely impressed with the trust’s progress in the face of significant pressures across the NHS and that is a credit to dedicated and passionate staff on the ground making that possible.”

“I am very much looking forward to becoming part of the team in Southampton and I hope we are able to enjoy many successes together in the future.”

Dr Charlotte Hopkins has been appointed as deputy chief medical officer at Barts Health NHS Trust.

The appointment will see Dr Hopkins move in July 2018 from her current position as clinical director for the Emergency Department and Paediatrics at the Trust’s Whipps Cross Hospital.

A consultant physician in Sexual Health and HIV who has worked at the Trust for eight years, Dr Hopkins will support the chief medical Officer, Professor Alistair Chesser, in delivering improvements across the whole of Barts Health NHS Trust.

Her portfolio will include: patient safety, mortality, clinical effectiveness and much more.

Dr Hopkins said: “I am excited by this new role and can’t wait to get going”.

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust has announced the appointment of Brendan Brown as chief executive. He is currently the chief nurse and deputy chief executive of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust.

He was appointed by the board after trust CEO Bridget Fletcher announced she would retire in May.

Commenting on his appointment, Brown said: “I am delighted to be joining the Trust which has an excellent reputation, a strong sense of teamwork, and a respected and committed leadership team.

“I am looking forward to working alongside the teams to deliver the best possible health services for the people of Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven, and in leading the Health and Care Partnership.

“The NHS faces challenging times but I am confident that the Trust can work with patients and partners to continue to improve the quality of services for our community.”

Balvinder Heran has been appointed as the joint strategic director of information assets and digital development by Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC), Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust (BHT) and NHS Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

Heran, currently director of ICT at the London Borough of Hounslow, will be responsible for the combined ICT strategy of all three organisations when she starts her new role in September.

Her job will be to define the strategic direction and business priorities for the development of technology across the whole Buckinghamshire Integrated Care System.

According to Buckinghamshire County Council, Heran will be aacountable for leading the overall system strategy and “ensuring that digitally driven solutions and services are fully supported by the right architectures and systems and that dependence on existing legacy systems and contracts are dramatically reduced.”

Heran said she was looking forward to “building new partnerships to create a lasting vision where ICT and digital transformation across Bucks is recognised as adding real value to the customer experience and high quality, value for money public services are delivered regardless of organisational boundaries.”