New Interim Chief Executive appointed at Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust (Shropcom) has today announced David Stout as its Interim Chief Executive.

He will be replacing Jan Ditheridge – who is leaving to take up a new role as Chief Executive of Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Jan will depart after almost seven years at the helm of Shropcom, which is responsible for a range of community services across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin. She has overseen years of sustained improvement at the organisation – work that was recognised last year by the Care Quality Commission, which awarded the Trust a rating of Good across all of its services.

The baton now passes to David, who is already well known within the local health system. He is currently Interim Programme Director for the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Sustainability and Transformation Partnership, having first come to the county a year ago as Interim Accountable Officer for Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

Nuala O’Kane, the Shropcom Chair, said: “I am delighted to have been able to appoint someone of David’s calibre as our interim CEO.

“He brings a wealth of experience to this type of role and I have no doubt that he will lead us successfully through the next phase of our growth and development.

“He certainly has big shoes to fill,” she added. “Jan has been a constant source of support and encouragement to me from when I first joined the Trust as a Non-Executive Director four and a half years ago, to more latterly since I took over as Chair in February last year.

“She has been an exceptional CEO to work with and I will miss her very much.  I am sure I speak for all of us when I say that Sheffield will be lucky to have her.”

David has worked in the NHS for more than 35 years across commissioning and provider roles at both local and national levels. During his career he has been Chief Executive of Newham Primary Care Trust, Deputy Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation as well as the Managing Director of the Central Eastern Commissioning Support Unit.

Before making the move to Shropshire he was Director of Transformation at Richmond & Kingston CCGs, following roles as Transformation Director for Cumbria CCG and working with the STP in North Central London.

David said: “I am delighted to take on the Interim Chief Executive role at Shropcom.

“Having worked in Shropshire for the last 10 months I know that Shropcom has a pivotal role to play in the development of integrated care in the county and in taking forward the prevention and placed-based care strategy set out in the Long Term Plan. I look forward to working with the Board, our staff and our partners in the coming months.”

Jan said: “It’s been an absolute privilege to be the Chief Executive of Shropcom.

“Community services support people, adults and children to maintain independence, stay at or close to home whenever possible and live life as they want to despite the health challenges that face them. I’m proud that we have continuously strived to do this, improving and developing services to meet our communities’ needs.

“I’m delighted to be handing the baton to David, as I know he’s committed to community services and their development, and I’m confident our staff will support him to do this. I wish him and Shropcom every success. I wish him and Shropcom every success.”