Trust reveals why it sacked its chief executive

Jonathan Parry was dismissed by Southport and Ormskirk Hospital Trust in October last year after whistleblowing allegations were made by staff.

Until now the trust has declined to release details of the allegations which led to an internal disciplinary process.

But it said in a statement today that Mr Parry had;

• Negligently breached the trust’s governance arrangements on a number of occasions.
• Failed to comply with the trust and the NHS’s conduct requirements in his approach to whistleblowing complaints.
• Failed to meet required conduct standards in his behaviour towards colleagues.
• Breached his duty of confidentiality towards the trust.

The trust previously committed to releasing details about the charges, and had received a number of freedom of information requests about the matter.

The trust also released brief details of the findings against Sharon Partington, the former HR director, who left her post before she could be dismissed.

It said she “failed to follow HR due process in relation to recruitment and disciplinary procedures on several occasions”, and “negligently failed to maintain a grip of a key national HR project leading to potential financial loss to the trust”.

The trust also revealed total costs of £1.4m in relation to the whistleblowing investigation, legal advice, costs of employing interim directors, and the disciplinary process, incurred between August 2015 and March 2017.

Mr Parry was one of the longest serving chief executives in the NHS, having started in 1999.

The trust told HSJ it had not been notified of any employment tribunal proceedings, and that the deadline for this has now elapsed. However, Mr Parry has previously indicated he could challenge the sacking through the high court.

HSJ has approached Mr Parry for comment.

The future of SOHT as an independent organisation remains unclear. It has struggled to meet key financial and performance targets and is subject to a “major service review” as part of a regional transformation plan. It has also had a series of interim chief executives since Mr Parry’s departure.

Richard Fraser, the trust chair, said: “Throughout this process, the trust has aimed to ensure fairness to the individuals concerned while acknowledging a legitimate public interest in the timescale and costs involved.

“We believe by disclosing this new information today we are meeting that public interest. The trust does not consider that it would be in the public interest to provide any further information. No further comment will be made on this matter.”