Director made trust CEO after 17 years on board

A Yorkshire acute trust has confirmed its CEO will take on the role permanently after holding the post as an interim for more than a year.

Harrogate and District Foundation Trust announced on Friday that Jonathan Coulter had been appointed chief executive.

Mr Coulter had been interim CEO since February 2022, when former boss Steve Russell was seconded to NHS England to become national director for covid and flu vaccinations. Mr Russell was then offered a permanent position as director of vaccination and screening.

Harrogate and District is among the trusts with the best performance on 12-hour accident and emergency waits. Only four trusts had a smaller proportion of A&E attendees waiting 12 hours or more than H&D’s 1.76 per cent during February.

A qualified accountant who has worked across several trusts, Mr Coulter became Harrogate’s finance director in 2006 and deputy chief executive four years later.

He said: “HDFT is a brilliant organisation with wonderful people. It is very humbling to be in a position to support all of our fantastic colleagues to be the best that they can be, and continue to do what we try to do every day, which is to help and support the people who need us.”

Trust chair Sarah Armstrong said: “I am delighted Jonathan has been appointed to the role of chief executive and I know he will lead the organisation with care, dedication and commitment.

“This is an exciting time for our trust. We are committed to providing the best possible level of healthcare for our community and we have a number of exciting projects over the next few years which will further improve on the high quality health and wellbeing service we provide.

“Jonathan’s knowledge and experience will be invaluable in driving these projects forward and I am very much looking forward to working closely with him in the future.”