The NHS trust responsible for running Sutton’s Kings Mill Hospital has announced interim changes to its board of directors, following the resignation of its chair, Claire Ward. Ward is stepping down from her role on the board after being elected as the first executive East Midlands Mayor earlier this month.
Ward, who has served as a member of the trust for 11 years and as chair since 2021, said: “While I am really excited to take on this new challenge as Mayor and to get started to make our region a better place, I am sad that my time here at Sherwood is coming to an end.
“When I joined Sherwood in 2013, it was a very different place: we were placed into special measures and had a constant revolving door of interim directors and staff”, she added. “But together, with the commitment and hard work of our colleagues and partners, we changed that and we are proud to now be rated ‘outstanding’ for care by the Care Quality Commission and to have been named the Midlands’ best NHS Trust to work for by our own colleagues.”
In response to Ward’s resignation, the Trust’s vice chair, Graham Ward will step up as interim chair for 12 months. Mr Ward is a chartered accountant and works as a management consultant. He is a board member of the housing association Acis Group and non-executive director of Mission Room Ltd, a Nottingham-based technology company.
“I am incredibly proud to have been the chair of this trust for the past three years, so I am stepping-down with real mixed emotions”, Mayor Ward said. “I know I leave the trust in the safe hands of Graham and the rest of the executive team, who I know our colleagues and partners will continue to give their full support to.”
In announcing changes to the its board, the trust also announced interim changes to the executive leadership team. Its deputy chief executive and medical director, Dr David Selwyn, will serve as the acting chief executive while the permanent chief executive, Paul Robinson, takes planned extended leave.
The trust’s deputy medical director, Dr Simon Roe, will step up as acting medical director during this period.
Mayor Ward’s resignation has caused a vacancy for a non-executive director on the trust’s board of directors. The trust will begin a recruitment process shortly.
