Hospital boss will bring in an 'experienced chief executive'

10:20am Sunday 3rd March 2013 in Local

AN EXPERIENCED chief executive will be brought in to Bolton NHS Foundation Trust’s board in the wake of a major investigation into mortality rates, its chairman has confirmed.

David Wakefield, who was appointed as interim chairman in August by health watchdog Monitor, says he has been working to “strengthen” the current board.

It comes as Monitor said it was “supportive” of Mr Wakefield and “encouraged”

by his work to strengthen the board’s leadership There is currently a void in the leadership at the Trust after the acting chief executive Dr Jackie Bene “stepped aside” when healthcare information expert Dr Foster began investigating the way patients had been “coded”.

The investigation’s results will be published on Wednesday.

Mr Wakefield said he was “in talks” to bring a “strong seasoned practicing performing chief executive in” to “bolster the board”.

It is not known what job title the person will take on the board as Dr Bene has not been suspended and remains acting chief executive and it is also not known how long the person will be at the board for.

Mr Wakefield said he was “also looking at bringing other resources in” to the board and said he was not yet sure how many additional people this would mean.

He added: “I am confident that we will have somebody in the board to support the executive team.”

Dr Bene, who has been medical director since 2008 and deputy chief executive since December, was appointed acting chief executive in January when Lesley Doherty, the chief executive, took early retirement.

In January the Trust interviewed potential chief executives but were unable to find a suitable candidate.

Now, Dr Bene has “stepped aside” there is no chief executive and the board, which has had more than a dozen changes since September, has an acting medical director and an acting deputy chief executive.

Cllr Andy Morgan, who sits on the Health, Overview and Scrutiny Committee, has called for strong leadership at the hospital and said the current “uncertainty”

cannot continue.

He said whoever was appointed to lead the hospital in the interim would get “full support” and added: “The chairman needs to start the recruitment process again as a matter of urgency to appoint a new chief executive who can take charge and lead the board and staff out of the current turmoil it is in.”

Comments (4)

11:13am Sat 2 Mar 13

Logica says...

If Royal Bolton Hospital were a private sector organisation it would be in administration. yes there are very serious questions being asked about mortality rates that may or may not be true but the dire financial position is 100% real. Who was responsible? Where are they now? Has the NHS closed ranks? Are there senior finance staff still working at the Trust? What are they doing now? Why isnt the press asking the basic questions?
If Royal Bolton Hospital were a private sector organisation it would be in administration. yes there are very serious questions being asked about mortality rates that may or may not be true but the dire financial position is 100% real. Who was responsible? Where are they now? Has the NHS closed ranks? Are there senior finance staff still working at the Trust? What are they doing now? Why isnt the press asking the basic questions? Logica

1:37pm Sat 2 Mar 13

boltonnut says...

Does this mean the (many) other executives were not experienced? Does this mean the outgoing chief exec.is still getting paid?Does this mean the new chief exec.will receive a full pension for the two or three months of work he will do before a new improved chief exec. is hired? Does this mean something stinks in Denmark, sorry I meant Bolton? Does this mean more layoffs of real workers so the trust can afford to hire more high priced ineffectives? Does this mean hirering all these bigwigs is a ploy to complicate the inevitable investigation that surely has to happen? Does this mean Iv'e finished? Yes for now.
Does this mean the (many) other executives were not experienced? Does this mean the outgoing chief exec.is still getting paid?Does this mean the new chief exec.will receive a full pension for the two or three months of work he will do before a new improved chief exec. is hired? Does this mean something stinks in Denmark, sorry I meant Bolton? Does this mean more layoffs of real workers so the trust can afford to hire more high priced ineffectives? Does this mean hirering all these bigwigs is a ploy to complicate the inevitable investigation that surely has to happen? Does this mean Iv'e finished? Yes for now. boltonnut

2:24pm Sat 2 Mar 13

temujin says...

Logica wrote:
If Royal Bolton Hospital were a private sector organisation it would be in administration. yes there are very serious questions being asked about mortality rates that may or may not be true but the dire financial position is 100% real. Who was responsible? Where are they now? Has the NHS closed ranks? Are there senior finance staff still working at the Trust? What are they doing now? Why isnt the press asking the basic questions?
If the allegations about fiddling the coding system at Mid-Staffs, Bolton and Wolverhampton are correct, there's a serious problem for the NHS.

Let's not prejudge the issue before the Bolton report is published next week.
[quote][p][bold]Logica[/bold] wrote: If Royal Bolton Hospital were a private sector organisation it would be in administration. yes there are very serious questions being asked about mortality rates that may or may not be true but the dire financial position is 100% real. Who was responsible? Where are they now? Has the NHS closed ranks? Are there senior finance staff still working at the Trust? What are they doing now? Why isnt the press asking the basic questions?[/p][/quote]If the allegations about fiddling the coding system at Mid-Staffs, Bolton and Wolverhampton are correct, there's a serious problem for the NHS. Let's not prejudge the issue before the Bolton report is published next week. temujin

6:41pm Sun 3 Mar 13

SamMULE says...

I feel dam sorry for Lesley Doherty, she was the chief exec.
She was a nurse and has worked her way up the ladder and ended up at the top!
She has been made a scapegoat of the previous chief execs overzealous spending.
I can't condone the mortality issue, if it's true?
The wards are always scraping the barrel so i don't understand where the money goes? I have seen on many occasions over the years the kitchen porters pushing buffets of food and drink for the board room meetings. When the staff have training/meetings we have to either go without or cough up if we want something!
I feel dam sorry for Lesley Doherty, she was the chief exec. She was a nurse and has worked her way up the ladder and ended up at the top! She has been made a scapegoat of the previous chief execs overzealous spending. I can't condone the mortality issue, if it's true? The wards are always scraping the barrel so i don't understand where the money goes? I have seen on many occasions over the years the kitchen porters pushing buffets of food and drink for the board room meetings. When the staff have training/meetings we have to either go without or cough up if we want something! SamMULE

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