A HOSPITAL trust chief is leaving after 12 years following the merger of NHS trusts – and is moving to Warwick Manufacturing Group.
Tributes have poured in for Dame Julie Moore, chief executive of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), after she announced her retirement.
She will become professor of healthcare systems at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), based at Warwick University.
Her new role will see her leading on a range of both research and education projects, leading collaborations with the NHS and other healthcare providers.
Her decision to leave her previous post follows the successful merger of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham with Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (HEFT).
Dame Julie has been chief executive of UHB since 2006.
She said: “While this has been a hugely demanding job, it has also been one of the most rewarding and pleasurable.
“To work with such skilled, talented and professional people doing work of real value to people, has been, and still is, an honour and a privilege.
“I am immensely proud of all we have achieved for our patients. When I arrived here, there was a huge surface car park where the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham now stands.
“We now treat more than double the amount of patients we did back then and we have an enviable reputation for the quality of care we give. This is all due to the fantastic efforts of all the teams working within this organisation.”
Dame Julie has not yet finalised her leaving date but it will be towards the end of this summer.
The trust’s board will be making arrangements to appoint a successor who will be announced in due course.
Former Labour Party politician and chair of UHB, Jacqui Smith, said: “Since becoming our chief executive in 2006, Julie has played a critical role in the success, development and growth of the Trust, most recently through the merger with HEFT.
“Her dedication to our patients, our staff and our Trust has inspired enormous admiration from those who work with her and she has been able to build a loyal and talented team around her.
“Her work across Birmingham and Solihull leading the Sustainability and Transformation Partnership and her many roles across the NHS mean that the loss will be felt widely.”
Julian Knight MP also paid tribute to Dame Julie.
He said: “Dame Julie was fundamental in the bringing about the UHB and HEFT merger, and played a crucial role while always keeping the wellbeing of patients to the upmost importance.
“I would like to thank Dame Julie for all that she has done in this role, particularly making this merger possible and wish her every happiness in retirement.”
Professor Stuart Croft, vice chancellor of the University of Warwick, said: “This is a stellar appointment. Nursing Times has described Dame Julie one of the best leaders in the NHS, and Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour has named her as one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK. I have no doubt that her new research role here with us in WMG at the University of Warwick will result in transformative research that will help enhance the delivery of healthcare across the UK.”
