Under-Fire Health Trust Creates New Job

Written by W.E.U Admin on 07 September 2016. Posted in Improving Working Lives.

Dear Members,

Please read the following article, which deeply concerns us. It highlights the mass failure of the former Chief Executive of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. Despite overseeing a series of failures, she has been rewarded with another role paying £240,000 per year with no loss of benefits.

This raises even more questions: Who is protecting her? Are they trying to silence her with another highly paid position? What are they trying to keep hidden? These and many more questions will remain unanswered until the Government takes action against high-paid executives who put themselves above the people they are meant to care for.

Regards,
Stephen Morris
General Secretary
Workers of England Union

Under-fire Health Trust Created New Job for Ex-Chief Executive Who Resigned

Katrina Percy said she was “delighted to be taking on an alternative role” with Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust last week.

New Role, Same Salary

A much-criticised health trust has admitted creating a brand-new position for its former chief executive after she resigned, claiming her previous role had become untenable. Katrina Percy will continue to receive approximately £240,000 per year, along with her existing benefits, in a role described as “providing strategic advice to local GP leaders.”

Unadvertised and Unchallenged

The trust’s interim chairman, Tim Smart, told the BBC that the position did not exist before Ms Percy’s departure. He confirmed she was the only candidate and that the role was never advertised. In dismissing suggestions that this was simply a fix, he stated, “Over the next few months, the work we’ve asked Katrina to do needed to be done in any event.”

Failure to Investigate Hundreds of Deaths

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust has been under intense scrutiny after Government reviews revealed it failed to investigate the unexpected deaths of hundreds of patients between 2011 and 2015. Among the cases was the death of 18-year-old Connor Sparrowhawk, who drowned after an epileptic seizure at a unit in Oxfordshire.

Regulatory Findings

In October, an inquest jury ruled that neglect contributed to Mr. Sparrowhawk’s death. In April, Care Quality Commission inspectors found that the trust still lacked robust arrangements for probing incidents, including serious harms and deaths, resulting in “missed opportunities” to prevent similar tragedies.

Independent Investigation

In December, an independent investigation concluded that Southern Health had failed to examine hundreds of patient deaths since 2011. The trust, which provides mental health services to 45,000 people across five counties, employs around 9,000 staff at over 200 sites, including community hospitals, health centres, inpatient units, and social care services.