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Trust CEO to leave for Welsh health board

Published on: 30 Sep 2021

The chief executive of a South Eastern trust is leaving to run one of the largest NHS organisations in Wales.

Suzanne Rankin, chief executive of Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals Foundation Trust in Surrey, will leave in January to run Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, which employs 14,000 staff and has a £1.4bn budget.

ASPH chair Andy Field said: “Suzanne has been a truly outstanding chief executive for seven years and I have been privileged to work with her as chairman for the past four years. During her tenure, Suzanne has spearheaded our ambitious Together We Care strategy, led team ASPH through many challenges and championed and successfully implemented transformation at scale.”

Ms Rankin said: “It’s been an honour and a privilege to work alongside my colleagues at Ashford and St Peter’s who have supported my growth and development as leader, lifted my spirits in tough times and made me proud and humble to be a member of team ASPH each and every day.”

The trust said it would announce its plans for a chief executive “shortly,” after the board had considered the options.

A merger between the trust and nearby Royal Surrey FT was called off in 2016 but the two still work closely together.

Ms Rankin is a nurse by background. She has served in the Royal Navy, which included deployment in the first Gulf War, and the Ministry of Defence, where she advised on nursing leadership. Last year, she was seconded to NHS Track and Trace as national director.