Chairs appointed to Oversee New NHS Organisations

Five Chairs have today been appointed to oversee the NHS organisations that will serve Gloucestershire from 1st April, 2002 and lead the modernisation of services for patients.

Earlier this week, Gloucestershire Health Authority recieved Ministerial approval for its plans to create the new NHS Trusts in the county to move decision making on health to a more local level and to ensure that the most up to date and best quality of treatment is provided to patients.

The National Appointments Commission has confirmed today the appointment of Dr Robert Maxwell as Chair of ther new Gloucestershire Partnership Trust for patients recieving mental health and learning disability services.

Dr Maxwell, CVO CBE, from North Nibley has been involved in health and community issues for most of his life and will bring a wealth of experience to the post having developed close links with the NHS and Social Care.

Dr Maxwell is a renowned health care adviser. He was Chief Executive of the internationally famous King's Fund based in London, from 1980 until 1997.

He has a keen and long standing interest in health care in many countries and has a particular interest in health care financing, performance measurement in health care systems and the special health of the poor.

Dr Maxwell's public appointments have included Governor of the National Institute of Social Work, member of the Prince of Wales Advisory Group on Disability, Trustee of the Josph Rowntree Memorial Foundation, Special Advisor to the World Health Oganisation on a number of assignments and President of the Association for Quality in Healthcare. Dr Maxwell has been Vice Chairman of the Severn NHS Trust Board since 1998.

From 1st April 2002, mental health and learning disability services will come together under a single countywide Partnership Trust organisation to provide comprehensive care and treatment for patients and enabaling health and social care staff to work more closely together.

The Partnership Trust will encourage users, carers, the public and partner agencies to get involved in the work of the new organisation, developing services in line with national startegies and improving how the organisation responds to the individual needs of patients. Dr Maxwell will oversee this work from an independent perspective.

Project Director for Gloucestershire Partnership Trust, Mr David Coombs said:

"I am delighted that Dr Maxwell will have the opportunity to offer his own range of experience, local knowledge and objectivity to the Partnership Trust at this exciting time. One of the organisation's key priorities is to bring practical health improvements to the lives of users and carers and I know that Dr Maxwell will be keen to help the new organisation meet the challenges ahead".

The National Appointments Commission also announced today the names of the three Primary Care Trust Chairs who will be responsible for steering their Trust boards in their work and leading a team of five Non- Executive Members.

Ms Ruth FitzJohn has been appointed as Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Primary Care Trust's first Chair.

Ruth FitzJohn came to the health service from an international career in IT management and strategic planning. Whilst taking a famlily career break, Ruth chaired the Maternity Services Liasion Committee of Gloucestershire Health Authority and went on to serve as a Non Executive Director and Vice Chair of East Gloucestershire NHS Trust for 4 years. Ruth lives in Cheltenham with her partner and two children.

Ms FitzJohn will play a crucial role in the first year of the devloping Trust, ensuring that the culture and direction of the organisation is in tune with the needs of the local community it services.

Primary Care Trusts are new independent local organisations involving doctors, community nurses and community hospital staff and others with an interest in decisions to improve the health of the local population and provide local health services.

The Primary Care Trusts will develop primary and community healthcare services, commission secondary (hospital) services for patients and improve and address inequalities in the health of the community.

Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Primary Care Trust as a local NHS organisation aims to bring a fresh look at the way it delivers its responsibilities, putting the key aim of improving people's lifetime health experience at the heart of the organisation.

Chair of Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Primary Care Trust, Ms Ruth FitzJohn said:

"Our new Primary Care Trust can help us to be healthier, keep more of us out of hospital and deliver useful health services closer to home. We can only plan and deliver these goals by respecting the skills and experience of our health professionals and helping other organisations in the Gloucestershire health community achieve their targets".

"I am hugely ambitious for what can be achieved for Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, building on the foundations of the exceptional Primary Care Group currently in place and I look forward to my new role with pleasure, excitemnt and a little trepidation".

Also today Elizabeth Law was named as the Chair of Cotswold and Vale Primary Care Trust.

A former Chief Executive of a Community NHS Trust in the North West, Mrs Law has had an extensive career in health and social care. She is a qualified social worker, who whilst working for Manchester Social Services was a Non-Executive and vice Chair of a District Health Authority and served on a Family Health Services Authority. She has two grown up children and grandchildren and lives in Minchinhampton with her husband.

Elizabeth Law has a long association with Gloucestershire from her early schooling and has parents who live in the area.

Mrs Law will be charged with ensuring that the new organisation operates in a way that 'maintains the best traditions' of public service, public accountability amd probity and will look at ways of developing external relationhips with the public, patients, local government and other partner organisations.

The vision of Cotswold and Vale Primary Care Trust for the next five years is to deliver a comprehensive range of high quality local healthcare services around the clock, as close to the patients home as possible, organised by teams of health and social care staff within local communities.

Chair of Cotswold and Vale Primary Care Trust, Mrs Elizabeth Law said:

"I am delighted to be appointed to this exciting new organisation and to have the opportunity to build on the excellent work of the project team and the primary care groups. There are many challenges ahead and I hope early on to meet staff and local groups to listen to their ideas so we can work together to create responsive, sensitive and integrated local health and care services for people who live in the Cotswold and Vale area.

The first Chair of the West Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust will be Ms Liz Boait from Tibberton.

Liz is no stranger to the NHS in Gloucestershire. She joined the Health Authority Board on 1st July 1998 and is the Authority's member on the Forest of Dean Primary Care Group. With a background as a teacher and lecturer, Liz has a close involvement with all levels of the education sector. Ms Boait also serves as a Gloucestershire County Councillor representing East Dean division.

West Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust's priorities are to improve the health and well-being of local people, develop health social care services closer to where people can best use them and build strong and effective primary care teams. The PCT will also develop more constructive relationships with users, carers and the general public, ensuring their involvement in local decision making.

Chair of West Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust, ,Ms Liz Boait said:

"I am truly delighted to be appointed as Chair of West Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust. I do not underestimate the challenges that lie ahead, and it will be important that we strive together as a health community to make a real, perceptible difference in peole's lives. Whilst looking forward to continuing the work of supporting front line clinical and other staff in the delivery of NHS services, I hope that we further strengthen our relationships with all our partners and the public as we seek to improve the health of the people of West Gloucestershire. In this we will also work collaboratively with other NHS organisations in the county as some of our decisions will require county-wide approaches".

In a further announcement, the Appointments Commission confirmed that Dame Janet Trotter OBE from Cheltenham will be Chair of the New Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust.

Janet has a background in education and is currently Principal of the newly created University of Gloucestershire. Since 1991 she has had a number of non-executive roles in the NHS including Chair of Gloucestershire Health Authority and Chair of the NHS Exective South and West.

The trust, largest in the South WEst, will manage the county's two district general hospitals, Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General, formerly run by Gloucestershire Royal NHS Trsut and East Gloucestershire NHS Trust.

It will provide more specialist services and treat more patients locally. The Trust will be able to offer a better career structure with opportunities and improved training for staff.

Chair of the Gloucestershire Hospital's Trust, Dame Janet Trotter said:

"I am delighted to be able to take on this role of stewardship for the hospitals trust and hope that I bring valuable experience with me as we move forward in these exciting times. We must support our staff and strive for excellence in services for our community in Gloucestershire".

One of the first tasks for the new Chairs will be to oversee the Chief Executive appointments process.