Imperial appoints SHA figures to board

NHS South West director of finance and performance Bill Shields has been named the trust’s chief financial officer, replacing Tony Graff, who resigned in April.

NHS London’s chief information officer Kevin Jarrold has been appointed the trust’s new CIO, replacing Alistair Shearin, who is retiring.

Imperial’s chief executive Steve Smith was replaced by Mark Davies in May.

The three departures were announced in the same week that HSJ revealed the trust had admitted the trust was facing a £40m gap between income and expenditure and had brought in consultants to help turn around its finances.

Mr Shields has more than 20 years’ experience in NHS financial management, including returning NHS South West to financial surplus from an inherited position of £100m deficit.

As deputy chief executive and chief financial officer of Portsmouth Hospitals Trust, he developed a financial recovery plan to return the organisation to financial balance and went on to deliver a surplus.

He said: “I am extremely pleased to be joining Imperial. It is not only one of the largest organisations in the NHS, but renowned for its excellence in translational research and clinical outcomes.

“I appreciate that this is a critical time for the trust and look forward to bringing my expertise and experience to bear on the challenges that lie ahead.”

Kevin Jarrold has 25 years’ NHS experience in the acute and strategic health authority sectors. He has supported six trusts implement Cerner, the electronic patient records system.

He said: “I am very pleased to be joining Imperial at this important time.  The trust has a fantastic reputation for the quality of clinical outcomes and leading edge research.  I am really looking forward to working with the team at Imperial to ensure that IT continues to support this agenda and to make the Cerner implementation a success.”

Mr Davies said: “I am delighted that two such high calibre candidates will be joining Imperial at such an important time.

“Bill will bring a wealth of experience and understanding of NHS finances to this critical role and I very much look forward to working with him to transform the trust’s financial position.

“The implementation of the electronic patient records is key to driving up the quality of patient care and providing savings through the elimination of duplication. Kevin will be instrumental in driving forward this critical piece of work which is already well underway in close conjunction with clinical colleagues.”

The new CFO role replaces the two existing posts of Academic Health Science Centre chief financial officer and trust director of finance. This is to “simplify the financial leadership and ensure clarity of accountability”, a trust spokeswoman said.

Mr Jarrold is due to join the trust in September and Mr Shields will take up his new position in October.