Integration pioneer trust hires director to join up services

Croydon Health Services Trust, which provides acute and community services for one of London’s largest boroughs, appointed Neil Goulbourne as its new director of integration.

He is currently the deputy director of improvement at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust and will start the new role on 1 February.

He joins on a 12-month secondment and will be responsible for “service integration, planning and performance oversight of the services provided by the trust across the borough”, a statement read.

The Croydon trust’s chief executive Matthew Kershaw last year also became effectively the managing director of the borough’s clinical commissioning group, in what is thought to be a unique arrangement crossing the purchaser-provider split. He is one of several trust leaders who have been asked to work as strategic leaders of health services on their patch, beyond their organisation.

Dr Goulbourne trained as a GP and has previously worked as head of service development and innovation at Virgin Care, before later becoming deputy director of NHS England’s strategy group.

Croydon Health Services Trust said in a statement he ”has been appointed… to help join together health and care services in one of London’s largest boroughs”.

Mr Kershaw said: “Neil’s insight and expertise as a hospital doctor, GP and, more recently, quality care improvement is exactly the addition we need in Croydon.

“Our partnership with Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group is one of the first of its kinds in the NHS. This will help us make the most of the expertise and the resources we have in the borough.”

In June, HSJ revealed Croydon Health Services Trust received the lowest score in the country from the national inpatient survey, and saw a significant drop from the previous year. Patients’ experience of being discharged and a lack of nurses were cited as major factors in its performance.