Salford NHS leaders to support local hospitals

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

The Chairman and Chief Executive, Jim Potter and Sir David Dalton, of Salford Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are to provide leadership and support to Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust from 1 April 2016.

Pennine Acute includes integrated community services and the four hospitals of Royal Oldham, Rochdale Infirmary, Fairfield (Bury) and North Manchester.

Salford Royal is one of the top performing Foundation Trusts in the country and Sir David Dalton has been chief executive since 2001, leading it to an ‘outstanding’ rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) last year. Salford Royal is now one of only two Trusts in the country to achieve this rating and the first in the North of England. It is also the first Trust with integrated acute and community services to earn this rating.

Both Jim Potter and Sir David have agreed to take on the chair and chief executive responsibilities respectively for Pennine Acute on an interim basis. The move follows the departure of Pennine Acute's Chief Executive for a role in the south and the completion of the term of office of the former Board chair.

Chris Mayer, Deputy Chairman of Pennine Acute, said: "The Pennine Acute Trust Board welcomes the involvement of colleagues from Salford Royal and we look forward to Jim Potter and Sir David joining our Board. We want to reassure our staff, patients and stakeholders that we view this new arrangement very positively and that the journey of improvement will continue, indeed we expect improvement will be accelerated as a result of this new partnership with Salford Royal."

NHS Improvement is working with the Pennine Acute Trust and Salford Royal to complete an initial review of development work needed. An immediate priority will be to review the outcome of the CQC’s inspection that took place in February, to assure patient safety and clinical effectiveness. Any changes to arrangements at Pennine Acute will need to be consistent with the locality plans for health and social care devolution in Greater Manchester.

Sir David Dalton said: "I am pleased to be able to support another Greater Manchester Trust during this period of change for the region, one of the aims of which is to enable a better, more co-ordinated way of providing local health services, consistent with the concepts of standardisation of best practice delivered at scale and the potential of creating a Group of NHS organisations".

“The senior team at Salford Royal and I are looking forward to working with the staff at Pennine Acute to help them deliver the best outcomes for patients. We are respectful of the major improvements which have been made over recent years at the Pennine Acute Trust and we will engage with staff and stakeholders to ensure that we pursue changes consistent with the plans in each locality to secure safe and reliable services for the populations services by the Trust."

“We bring with us a great track record of patient safety, operational performance and staff engagement and will be using this experience to support then hospitals in Bury, Rochdale, Oldham and North Manchester to achieve the high standards we wish to see throughout Greater Manchester."

Lyn Simpson, Executive Regional Managing Director designate for NHS Improvement, said: "The transformational changes being undertaken by the NHS require more than ever strong and effective leadership. The recent Board changes at Pennine Acute and the support offered by Salford Royal will provide staff and patients with the leadership required at this time. “

“We are most grateful for the assistance offered by Salford Royal, which is a highly regarded Trust, both locally and nationally, and has the expertise to deliver the change needed. We expect that Salford Royal will complete an initial review and identify the key actions for Pennine Acute to assure its services meet the required standards as identified by the Care Quality Commission."

The clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and local authorities from Bury, Rochdale, Manchester and Oldham - the areas Pennine Acute covers - have welcomed the move and have offered their full support to Salford Royal and the Trust in the coming period.