Surgeon CEO takes on interim role leading second trust

The CEO of a children’s hospital trust has taken an interim role leading a general acute provider in the same system, whose substantive chief is “undertaking an assignment with NHS London on provider collaboratives”.

Matthew Shaw, who was appointed chief executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2018, will now also lead Whittington Health Trust, the organisations have announced.

He takes over from Helen Brown, who became Whittington CEO in the summer of 2022. The trust said in a statement: “It has been agreed that Helen Brown, our CEO, will be undertaking an assignment with NHS [England] London on provider collaboratives from now until March 2024. Helen has taken this decision for personal reasons.”

The trust did not say whether Ms Brown, previously deputy CEO at West Hertfordshire Hospitals, would be returning to the Whittington role, but did add: “As this is a short-term assignment, we are not recruiting a substantive CEO.”

At Whittington Health, medical director Clare Dollery will become acting deputy CEO.

Mr Shaw, who is also a consultant spinal surgeon, joined GOSH in 2018 as its medical director.

HSJ has asked for more details of the NHSE London project.

Updated with further comment from Whittington.