Major acute trust appoints new chief executive

Mr Mitchell is currently chief executive of Sherwood Forest Hospitals. He will move to Leicester in October.

UHL’s previous CEO, John Adler, announced he was retiring in 2020 after eight years at the helm. Chief operating officer Rebecca Brown has acted as interim chief executive since then.

Soon after Mr Adler’s departure, UHL’s long-standing chair Karamjit Singh announced he would leave the trust ahead of his eight-year contract ending next year. John MacDonald, chair of Sherwood Forest Hospitals, was subsequently appointed acting chair of UHL. 

Mr Adler’s and Mr Singh’s departures came amid ongoing investigations into a £46m hole that was discovered in the trust’s 2018-19 annual accounts.

Auditors said there was “anecdotal evidence” that the trust’s management may have “deliberately misreported the trust’s financial position”. 

Mr Mitchell was appointed chief executive of Sherwood Forest in 2017. During his four years at the helm the trust improved its CQC rating from “requires improvement” to “good”. The provider was also named HSJ acute trust of the year in 2020.

Mr Mitchell previously worked as deputy chief executive and chief operating officer for four years at UHL. Before that, he worked at Imperial College Healthcare Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust in senior management roles.

He said: “I am delighted to be joining UHL as chief executive. My family and I have lived in Leicestershire for eight years and our two children were born at UHL. It will be a privilege to be part of the team again and I am confident we will further improve patient care and the experiences colleagues have at UHL.”

“Recognising how tough the last 18 months have been for us all in our working and personal lives, I do feel optimistic and confident about the trust’s future,” Mr Mitchell said.

“I know the planned investment and reconfiguration coupled with even closer working with partners gives us a great opportunity to permanently transform Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and UHL,” he added.

Mr MacDonald said: “[Mr Mitchell] is joining us at a pivotal moment; we are full steam ahead on our plans to invest millions in the transformation of our hospitals, we are a key partner in the development of the Integrated Care System and we are making good progress on returning the trust to a sustainable financial position.”

Rebecca Brown will continue as acting chief executive until Mr Mitchell starts in October. She said leading the trust through the pandemic had been the “greatest honour of her career”.