• East of England ambulance trust’s deputy chief to retire
  • Move follows medical director Mark Patten leaving last month
  • Sandy Brown was also nursing director
  • Trust has lost its two most senior clinicians

East of England Ambulance Service Trust’s deputy chief executive and nursing director has announced he is to retire in April, meaning the trust’s two most senior clinical directors have left in recent months.

Sandy Brown, who spent three years on the trust’s board, was also the organisation’s director of nursing and quality. His retirement follows medical director Mark Patten leaving last month.

In a statement on the trust’s website he said: “I am immensely proud of my service; I have had a great career and my passion has always been about patients and developing staff. I would like to thank everyone, and wish [the trust] every success.”

The short statement did not say who would fill either the nursing director role, or who would succeed him as deputy chief executive.

The trust does however have trained clinicians on the board. Chief executive Robert Morton and Kevin Brown, director of service delivery, both trained as paramedics. Wayne Bartlett-Syree, director of strategy and sustainability, trained as a nurse. Tom Davis is the trust’s interim  medical director.

Dr Patten had informed the trust in November he was leaving. This was before a crisis hit period in which the trust recorded 138 “significant” delays, some of which a whistleblower alleged led to avoidable deaths and patient harm.

MPs raised concerns about the trust’s leadership in the wake of teh whistleblower’s allegations.

Trust chair Sarah Boulton this week told HSJ she was “totally confident” in the board’s ability to lead the organisation. She is also in the process of commissioning a senior sector figure to “independently” review the trust’s “operational management” over winter.

Topics