Hospital trusts ditch shared chair role

Two large hospital trusts have dropped their shared chair arrangement.

Barts Health Trust and Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust previously shared a chair in common, Jacqui Smith, who stepped down in July to become a minister in the Department for Education.

The boards of Barts Health and BHRUT have announced they will now reinstate a chair for each trust rather than a chair in common.

Homerton Healthcare Foundation Trust, the third acute trust in north east London, will also stick with an individual chair.

The trusts have not explicitly said why they will not appoint another chair in common, but Marie Gabriel, North East London Integrated Care System chair, said individual chairs will “ensure there is sufficient focus on the key challenges within each trust”.

Barts Health’s new chair will also chair the acute provider collaborative, which includes Homerton Healthcare FT. Further joint non-executive directors will also be chosen for the trust boards.

Ms Gabriel said: “As system partners and in discussion with NHS England (London), we have taken the opportunity to look at what arrangements best support us to build greater collaboration, support patient care and achieve financial sustainability.

“We believe that three chairs will help us maintain a strong focus on collaboration, avoid duplication of the work of the APC and ensure there is sufficient focus on the key challenges within each trust. 

“It will also allow closer collaboration with place-based partnerships, ensuring a continued focus on joined-up healthcare and tackling local priorities.”

Ms Smith had been in the post for close to three years, during which time BHRUT moved out of special measures for the first time in six years. 

It has also significantly improved its accident and emergency performance in recent months, after languishing in the bottom decile nationally for the four hours metric for more than a decade.

At the start of the year the trusts “paused” the further merger of Barts and BHRUT’s executive teams.

Adam Sharples and Mehboob Khan will continue as acting chairs in Barts Health and BHRUT respectively, while the recruitment process for the new chairs takes its course.

Barts Health and BHRUT have been contacted for comment.