Ex-No10 adviser to chair trust

A former council chief executive and Downing Street adviser has been appointed chair of a small acute trust in Cheshire.

Carolyn Wilkins has been announced as the new chair of Mid Cheshire Hospitals Foundation Trust, replacing Dennis Dunn, who is stepping down after nine years in the role.

Professor Wilkins was previously chief executive of Oldham Council for 12 years, also holding the role of accountable officer for Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group in the latter period of that tenure.

She stepped down from those roles in 2021, before spending five months advising Number 10 on the recent Health and Care Bill legislation.

She has also worked on secondment with the national NHS Test and Trace team during the height of the pandemic, where she led a team supporting local government with their covid response.

Ian Moston, who was appointed MCH chief executive last year, said: “We are delighted that someone of Carolyn’s calibre and experience is joining us. Her depth and breadth of experience across the range of public service will be invaluable in helping us translate our trust strategy into a new model of care. We are excited to start working with her.”

The trust is hoping to be included in the government’s new hospital building programme, as its main Leighton Hospital site is one of several which contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, which is deemed to be unsafe after a certain timespan.