Trust’s new CEO means three London chiefs have a minority ethnic background

Ify Okocha has taken on the interim CEO role at Oxleas Foundation Trust, where he was medical director and deputy chief executive. He succeeds Matthew Trainer, who has left to become Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospital Trust’s new CEO.

It is believed Dr Okocha’s appointment makes him the ninth trust chief executive from a minority ethnic background in England. However, one of the nine, Northern Care Alliance chief Raj Jain, is retiring shortly.

There are two other trust CEOs known to be from a minority ethnic background in London — Jinjer Kandola at Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust, and Nnenna Osuji, hospital chief at North Middlesex University Hospital Trust.

Psychiatrist Dr Okocha has worked at Oxleas FT since 1996 and became its medical director in 2009. He was briefly its acting CEO for five months last year, from March until July 2020, while Mr Trainer was deputy chief of the London Nightingale Hospital at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Okocha holds a PhD from the Institute of Psychiatry and King’s College, London, where he completed his doctorate and postdoctorate in psychosis and psychopharmacology respectively.

He said: “I am delighted to be taking on this role and looking forward to working with colleagues across Oxleas and south east London.

“We have an exciting new strategy for Oxleas, which we are all looking forward to putting into action.”

Trust chair Andy Trotter said: “Matthew’s passionate commitment to patient care and the wellbeing of staff has been vital in the way Oxleas has risen to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I am confident that Ify and our strong executive team will continue to build on this.”