New Board appointments announced

As you will know from the conversations I have had with many of you and the messages shared, we have been making some real strides in creating a stable Trust Board for the benefit of all, but in particular the governance of our service and the commitments we make to provide the best patient care we can.

I am really pleased to announce not one but two permanent appointments to very key roles on the Board, which is made up of executive and non-executive directors.

We welcome Lindsey Stafford- Scott as Director of People and Culture, and who will join us in April from Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. She has a very comprehensive background in HR strategy and improving cultures in workforces, and her role will involve:

• delivering the Organisational Development Programme
• working with employees, stakeholders and staffside to embed best practice in HR policy and procedure
• work with HR colleagues on the challenging workforce and succession planning agenda to ensure the Trust has the right people to provide excellent services and develop the desired culture for the future.

I’d also like to congratulate Interim Finance Director Kevin Smith on his appointment to the role of Director of Finance and Commissioning, having worked at this level for the past two years.

I would like to pay very special thanks to our current Interim Director of HR Ruth McAll, who will remain in post until Lindsey joins us and will assist with her transition into the Trust. Ruth has been a pivotal part of our HR work, achieving a great deal in less than one year of being with us. This includes working to stabilise the Human Resources team, better integrating several related areas of Trust work such as health and wellbeing, and leading on the new People and Culture Strategy which covers a spectrum of work we need to do in order to improve the wellbeing of the Trust and the people within it.

For those of you able to attend this week’s Board meeting or took a glance over the Board papers here, Trust Chair Sarah Boulton noted in her briefing to the Board that we will now be interviewing for a Medical Director and Deputy Director, which is more very welcome news and, together with these appointments, will provide further stability and permanence to the Trust.

For more information on the Trust Board, I do recommend you visit this page on East24. 

Robert Morton

Chief Executive

Published 29th January, 2016