West Midlands acute chief resigns

Penny Venables has stepped down from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust board.

Ms Venables’ resignation follows a difficult few months for the trust, which has seen the Care Quality Commission take “urgent action” after an accident and emergency department inspection and a mass resignation of A&E consultants.

The CQC imposed a condition on the trust’s registration and issued it with three warning notices after an unannounced inspection of A&E services at Worcestershire Royal and Alexandra hospitals in March found staffing problems.

A CQC spokeswoman said at the time that the action was taken to ensure “the right number of appropriately qualified and skilled staff were always on duty”.

Acting trust chief executive Chris Tidman, who has been in the post since Ms Venables went on long term sick leave in April, will continue in the role until a substantive replacement is found.

A trust spokeswoman added that Ms Venables has not received any severance payment or additional pension contributions.

Earlier this year Worcester Acute was hit by the resignation of five A&E consultants who wrote an open letter to the trust’s management accusing them of undermining services at Alexandra Hospital.The trust’s five divisional medical directors challenged the consultant’s interpretation of events.

In May the NHS Trust Development Authority appointed an improvement director to help turn around the problems in the trust’s A&E units concerning patient flow, emergency care pathways and patient experience.

Separately, an independent review into allegations that A&E nurses were bullied is due to report in the coming weeks.   

Trust chair Harry Turner said: “I am most grateful for all the work Penny has done for the patients, staff and everyone involved with the trust.

“She will be remembered as an effective leader, who put patients and staff at the heart of her decisions. On behalf of patients, staff and the board of the Trust I wish Penny every success for the future.”