New chief executive appointed at under-fire Oswestry orthopaedic hospital

Mark Brandreth, who is currently deputy chief executive and director of operations and planning at the Countess of Chester Hospital, will take up his role as the new chief executive of the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry in the spring.

He replaces Wendy Farrington-Chadd who left the post last year due to personal reasons.

Bosses at the hospital are currently awaiting the outcome of a report by the government's health watchdog Monitor because some patients are waiting too long for routine operations.

Last week it was also revealed that more than 300 people were given the wrong date for treatment at the hospital.

In addition, 28 patients were identified as waiting more than 52 weeks for treatment.

Hospitals can be fined £5,000 per patient per week for any waits over a year.

The Orthopaedic has currently budgeted £200,000 for penalties relating to the long-waiting patients.

Mr Brandreth's arrival will see him succeed John Grinnell, who has been acting chief executive since the start of October.

Mr Grinnell will resume his duties as director of finance.

Mr Brandreth said: "I am proud to have been offered the job of chief executive at such a fantastic hospital.

"The recruitment process allowed me the opportunity to meet some of the excellent staff at the Trust.

"I was hugely impressed by their commitment for delivering great care to patients. Alongside the staff, the patients, governors and volunteers I met demonstrated a real passion for their hospital.

"I will be joining the trust in a few months at a challenging time for the NHS.

"However the trust has many strengths to build on and I believe if we listen to our patients and staff we can continue to improve our services now and in the future."

Before making the move to Chester in 2013, Mr Brandreth had worked in a number of NHS management posts over the last 20 years.

His first board director appointment was in Liverpool, where he went on to be assistant chief executive in the primary care trust before he was invited to work in a national role at the Department of Health.

More recently he worked with Hywel Dda Health Board in Wales overseeing the operational responsibility for four hospitals.

Oswestry's Trust Board chairman Frank Collins added: "I am delighted that Mark has accepted our invitation to become our chief executive.

"He impressed us all with his knowledge, enthusiasm and vision and I look forward to working with him over the coming months and years."