Former doctor to chair trust

Anita Donley takes over at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust on 1 December, replacing Richard Shaw, who has been chair for the past 12 years.

Dr Donley has previously served as chair of the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System, chair of Queen Victoria Hospital Foundation Trust, and as national clinical director for venous thromboembolism, leading a programme to reduce avoidable deaths. She was a consultant physician in acute medicine, and retired from clinical practice in 2019.

SASH faces financial difficulties – its expected deficit this year was more than £37m, though it has been reduced to £13.7m after non-recurrent support from NHS England. It is struggling to reduce temporary staff spend.

It has theatre capacity problems, and the lowest number of critical care beds by population in the UK, leading to many transfers to other hospitals, according to the trust.

SASH CEO Angela Stevenson said: “I am confident [Anita’s] experience, both managerial and clinical, will stand us in good stead for the strategic and system-wide challenges ahead.”

Dr Donley said: ”I look forward to working with colleagues across Surrey and Sussex [integrated care systems] to improve care quality and safety across the system.”