Two more directors go amid heavy criticism of trust’s management

According to a report to University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust’s board at the end of last month, medical director Shahedal Bari stepped down at the end of October “to allow him to achieve a better work-life balance and also enable him to pursue a career with Health Education England”.

Dr Bari will continue to practise as a respiratory consultant at the trust, the papers added. He has been replaced on an interim basis by Jane McNicholas, a senior cancer consultant who has joined from East Lancashire Hospitals Trust.

The papers added that Kate Maynard, the trust’s chief operating officer since September 2020, has announced her intention to retire in March “to allow her to relocate closer to family and friends and focus on new challenges”.

HSJ asked the trust if the moves were in any way connected to the regulatory interventions or assessments in recent months, to which the trust repeated the commentary from the board papers.

The leadership of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust was judged to be “inadequate” after an inspection by the Care Quality Commission in the spring, with serious concerns raised around its stroke and maternity services.

A subsequent inspection at Royal Lancaster Infirmary in August, triggered by staff raising concerns, has also resulted in an inadequate rating for the site’s medical services, including in the leadership domain. A report published last month said: “Leaders did not demonstrate that they had the skills and abilities to run the service. They did not demonstrate they understood and managed the priorities and issues the service faced.”

HSJ has also seen a letter sent to the trust board by representatives of seven staffing unions in September, which outlined multiple concerns about management.

The letter from the trust’s Union Staff Side, which represents seven unions including Unison and the Royal College of Nursing, raised numerous concerns including a “culture whereby staff are afraid to speak up or raise concerns out of fear of reprimand and being labelled as a trouble maker”, and managers not attending key meetings with union officials.

The latest board-level changes come after the retirement of executive chief nurse Sue Smith in September and director of governance Andrea Willimott last month. Chief executive Aaron Cummins, who was praised by the CQC for his “visibility”, remains in post.

Since the spring, UHMB has been operating under a high level of oversight and scrutiny, with an NHS England improvement team led by former PwC consultant, Caroline Griffiths, overseeing the board. The trust is categorised as requiring intense support, which is the category formerly known as “special measures”.

Mr Cummins said in a statement: “Supported by NHS England and Improvement, we are launching a dedicated cultural assessment tool which will provide a baseline that will inform a structured programme of work, to ensure sustained and measured improvement in cultural and organisational development.

“Our Staff Side colleagues play an important role in that, and we remain committed to a real partnership approach with the Staff Side chair representing the organisation on the trust board as well as joining the newly established cultural transformation group and recovery support programme board to ensure that the views of union members are heard and considered at every stage.”