New director of nursing to help guide improvements at Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals
A new director of nursing has been appointed at Shropshire's major hospitals ahead of a new alliance to improve services starting next week.
Hayley Flavell will replace interim chief nurse Maggie Bayley at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.
Hayley is currently deputy chief nurse at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), which has formed an alliance with SaTH to address the governance and leadership issues needed to improve services.
The Shropshire trust has been in special measures since 2018 and the alliance, which comes into force on Tuesday will be time-limited, aiming to deliver a "rapid quality improvement plan".
Hayley has significant experience in senior nursing leadership roles, with a current focus on quality, safety and improvement.
She will also begin her new role on Tuesday.
There will be a number of people from UHB who will form a key part of the targeted support to improve services for patients at SaTH.
These include Cherry West, chief transformation officer at UHB and Richard Steyn, associate medical director at UHB.
Welcoming the announcement, SaTH's chief executive Louise Barnett said: “I am delighted to welcome the appointment of Hayley as director of nursing to SaTH and to welcome Cherry and Richard, from UHB.
Crucial
"The opportunity to work with colleagues at UHB, as part of the improvement alliance, will be crucial in helping to improve patient safety and quality of care for patients and families in the communities we serve.
“We know that we cannot accomplish the necessary transformation alone and the provision of this extra expertise and support will help us to make the necessary improvements for patients.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Maggie Bayley for all her hard work and dedication during her six months at SaTH and wish her well for the future.”
UHB runs the biggest hospital in the Midlands – Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham – along with Good Hope, Heartlands and Solihull hospitals.
It was announced earlier this month that SaTH's chairman, Ben Reid, was also stepping down and Dr Catriona McMahon, non-executive director and senior independent director at UHB, would be taking up the role to lead the board of the hospitals.
Dr Nigel Sturrock, regional medical director for NHS Improvement in the Midlands, said the challenges facing SaTH were "complex and substantial" and the trust needed the "strong support of the surrounding system".
UHB is a leading teaching hospital rated outstanding for leadership by the Care Quality Commission.
