Chair of troubled FT to resign after CEO’s sudden departure

Adrian Belton, Stockport Foundation Trust chair since June 2017, has told staff this morning he plans to stand down early next year, HSJ has learned.

It comes after he was reappointed to the role earlier this year. It also follows the sudden departure of chief executive Louise Robson last month, who had been in post since January 2019.

The trust has experienced a difficult 18-month period in which it has struggled to make improvements to the quality and performance of its emergency services, and saw several senior departures over the summer.

The Care Quality Commission rated the emergency department “inadequate” in May 2020. After a follow-up inspection in August, the regulator acknowledged “a number of improvements”, but said “more work was needed”.

Karen James, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care FT chief executive, is now leading both trusts on a joint basis, as part of a provider collaborative.

Mr Belton lives in the Sheffield area and also chairs an agency within the Ministry of Defence.

The message to staff said: “As a new era emerges for health and social care with the development of integrated care systems and provider collaboratives and increasing demands from his other roles, Mr Belton said he felt the time was right to hand over the responsibilities of chair to someone who was more closely connected to the local area and could devote the necessary time to steering Stockport through the next phase of system changes.”

It also highlighted some achievements from the last three years, including a successful bid for £31m of capital funding for a new emergency care campus.

A process to recruit a new chair will begin in January and Mr Belton will remain in post until a successor is appointed.

Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care FT’s chair is Jane McCall, and HSJ has asked if she is likely to be appointed to Stockport FT on a joint basis.