• Sean Lyons says decision is “personal one”
  • Has headed up Hull Teaching Hospitals and Northern Lincs & Goole since early 2022
  • Interim CEO brought in last month

The chair of a trust group where the CEO has been off work since April has announced he is stepping down.

Sean Lyons, chair of the Humber Health Partnership, told staff today he would be leaving the role next month. Mr Lyons said the decision was a “personal one”. 

Earlier this year HSJ reported that the group’s first chief executive, Jonathan Lofthouse, was off work following disagreements with Mr Lyons. No date has been set for Mr Lofthouse’s return and the group is currently being led by an interim CEO, Lynn Simpson.

A message to staff said the departing chair had “turned years of ambition into reality and laid the foundations for safer, stronger and more sustainable care”.

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Foundation Trust and Hull University Teaching Hospitals, which joined together in early 2022, both have performance problems, and were ranked in the bottom 30 organisations in NHS England’s national “league table” this week. 

Earlier, Mr Lyons told staff the group was facing “significant challenges” and patient safety concerns needed “urgent attention”. 

Ms Simpson was brought in last month from North Cumbria Integrated Care Foundation Trust where she is substantive CEO. 

Mr Lyons became joint chair of both trusts in February 2022, moving from Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group, and was chair of Sherwood Forest Hospitals Foundation Trust before that. He has also worked in leadership roles across manufacturing and the steel industry, including as site director for Scunthorpe Steelworks.

In a note to staff seen by HSJ, Mr Lyons said: ”My decision to step down is a personal one. I have worked for 52 years and devoted my service to 21 roles in business and healthcare. I am keen to explore some different options and focus on my personal interests, my business interests and of course my family.

“I will miss being part of a team, as I am here at Humber Health, but I will continue to watch the partnership’s progress with great pride and interest.”

Ms Simpson said: “Our priority now is the next stage of the partnership’s journey and delivering the improvements our communities need. We know that getting good NHS services is the most important thing to more than 1.5 million patients, carers and families in the Humber and beyond who depend on them. It is also the most important thing to everyone who works here.”

Ms Simpson said the group was working to ensure clinicians “make more of the decisions about how we manage our resources and deliver care”.

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