Trust chair withdraws before starting role

A lay member of the embattled Nursing Midwifery Council, who had been appointed by NHS England to chair a mental health trust, has decided not to take up the new role, HSJ has learned.

Sue Whelan Tracy was due to replace Jagtar Singh as chair at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust this month.

However, in correspondence sent to staff and seen by HSJ, the trust’s chief executive Mel Coombes said: “Sue has now informed us that, for personal reasons, she has decided not to take up the offer to become trust chair at this time.

“While I am sorry that the trust won’t be benefiting from Sue’s tenure as chair, I wish her well for the future. NHS England will be carrying out a new recruitment process and I will share further information when it is available.”

Sue Whelan Tracy has been a member of the NMC since October 2020, and senior independent director at South Warwickshire Foundation Trust since February 2016. SWFT has confirmed she will remain in her role there until the end of her term, and the NMC confirmed to HSJ that she is still a lay member of its council.

She began her career in banking and was commissioner at the then Independent Police Complaints Commission, from April 2014 until January 2018. The announcement did not disclose further details about her reasons for not taking up the role.

An independent review published in July concluded the regulator had dysfunctionality “at virtually every level and across all directorates”, alongside instances of bullying, racism, and discrimination. 

Ms Tracy said in a statement: “I wish CWPT colleagues every success delivering safe, compassionate, inclusive and equitable care across the communities they serve, and becoming a great place to work for all staff.”

The report does not criticise Ms Tracy herself, nor the governing body, but the regulator has come under intense scrutiny in recent months.

NHSE has previously told HSJ all board appointments are made “in conjunction with the fit and proper person test”, and additional and relevant information will be “reviewed accordingly” where it comes to light.

NHS England confirmed to HSJ on Tuesday that the content of the NMC report did not require it to conduct a further review under the Fit and Proper Persons Test Framework.

Mr Singh has served as CWPT chair for ten years. He was previously a non-executive director at the East of England Ambulance Service and at the then Luton and Dunstable Hospital FT.

Updated on 10 September after NHS provided more information