By Gillian Ellison

Last updated at 11:37, Thursday, 13 September 2012

WEST Cumberland Hospital and the Cumberland Infirmary now have a new boss.

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Ann Farrar, who was due to become interim chief executive in mid August, started this week.

However the takeover of the hospitals has been delayed by three months which means the deal with Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust will not be done now until April 1 next year.

The North East organisation is due to take over the North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust – which runs the hospitals – as a result of its long-running financial problems.

A legally-binding document sealing the hospitals’ transfer and detailing things like when the new West Cumberland Hospital should be built by and what it will look like, has still not yet been signed by all parties. However the North Cumbria Trust this week announced it was pressing ahead with interim management arrangements with the appointment of Mrs Farrar, the chief operating officer for Northumbria Healthcare.

She is now responsible for the day-to-day running of both hospitals and attended her first board meeting of the North Cumbria Trust on Tuesday at Whitehaven.

“A lot of work by both organisations has taken place to get us to this point in the implementation of interim management arrangements,” she said. “Whilst there has been a few disappointing delays, I am delighted that I can finally take up the position of interim chief executive and work with staff to deliver the patient outcomes the local communities deserve.”

In an email to staff she said: “We have a long and difficult road ahead and we are yet to know all of the challenges we will collectively face.

“However, we have much to build on. Our vision is clear, to deliver world-class care to our patients and our work will immediately focus on the quality of the service building on what we do well and focusing on those areas that require improvements. We will need to work together on the redevelopment of West Cumberland Hospital, ensuring that the new hospital is pivotal in transforming the outcomes for patients.”

She is joined by Dr Jeremy Rushmer, who will be responsible for clinical transformation, and Les Morgan, who will be focused on the West Cumberland Hospital redevelopment.

The delay of three months for the takeover process to be completed is down to a Government approval process, the Trust Board heard on Tuesday.

Alistair Mulvey, who had been the Trust’s acting chief executive, told the meeting that the timescales would be influenced by the Co-operation and Competition Panel (CCP), a national organisation which oversees acquisition processes.

He confirmed they were now in the second stage of the CCP process and that the date had been moved back three months.

Regarding Mrs Farrar’s appointment, Trust chairman Mike Little said this week: “This is excellent news for North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust and Northumbria Healthcare and is a major step forward in the creation of one unified organisation which will have a lasting positive impact on the care patients will receive across Carlisle, Whitehaven, North Tyneside and Northumberland.

“Ann brings to North Cumbria a wealth of experience within the NHS and a track record of ensuring local NHS hospital services are at the highest quality for patients.”

Estephanie Dunn, of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “The Trust and its new management team now have a great opportunity to move forward in delivering the much-needed reforms to the resourcing, structures and practices at the Trust.

“Patients, staff and the Cumbrian community have the right to have the very best healthcare that is properly resourced and managed, and we hope that the new leadership team will be able to deliver on this.”

First published at 11:11, Thursday, 13 September 2012
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk