THE CHIEF executive of the troubled Heart of England Foundation NHS Trust (HEFT) has dramatically resigned after health watchdog Monitor slammed the leadership of the Trust.
In an online blog Dr Mark Newbold published his resignation letter which detailed why he was leaving HEFT and admitted he was disappointed not to have tackled overcrowding issues within the Trust.
The watchdog had said there were ‘clear failures in leadership’ which lead to longer waiting times and concern over death rates.
In his resignation letter, Dr Newbold said intervention by Monitor had prompted him to reconsider his position after four years in post at the organisation which runs Solihull, Heartlands and Good Hope hospitals.
He wrote: “Overcrowding is the singular problem that HEFT has, and I regret that I have not managed to solve this on a sustained basis.
“It is, as you are aware, responsible either directly or indirectly for most of the main missed targets, and indeed our mortality rates and poor staff morale.
“If I had managed to solve the overcrowding, I do not think I would be writing this letter.
“However, a Chief Executive has to know when the time is right to pass the baton on, and I believe that time is now.”
Although the letter points out a number of issues Dr Newbold also points out where he feels the Trust has excelled which included community services at Solihull Hospital.
He said: “In Solihull we brought the Community Services into the Trust and now we are well set to develop an accountable care system for the borough – a truly exciting development.
“I am proud too of commissioning the Kennedy Review and starting to tackle some of the difficult legacy issues in an honest way.”
A spokesperson from HEFT said the Trust accepted his resignation and will be announcing new arrangements in the near future.
