A NEW chief executive has been appointed at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust.

Stacey Hunter will take over the role from Cara Charles-Barks MBE who will be taking the chief executive post at the Royal United Hospitals Bath. A start date has yet to be confirmed.

Nick Marsden, the chair of Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust made the announcement today (June 23).

He said: “It is with great pleasure that I can announce the new chief executive officer at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust will be Stacey Hunter.

"We had considerable interest in the position and finding opportunities for candidates to visit the hospital has been challenging given the COVID-19 restrictions.

"The final interview panel was held last Wednesday and approval from the Council of Governors was achieved yesterday evening.

"The panel was determined to find a candidate that would fit in and continue to drive the progress we have made here at Salisbury over the past four years. We are confident we have achieved that objective.”

Stacey started her career as a nurse in 1990 at Hull Hospitals and Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTHT).

From 1996 she undertook senior nurse and matron roles at Leeds Teaching Hospitals and from 2001, she took on business and service management positions, including a secondment to West Yorkshire Cardiovascular Network as a quality improvement Manager.

In 2006, Stacey was appointed directorate manager and head of the clinical management team for Cardiology, Respiratory Medicine, Allergy and Immunology Services at LTHT.

In 2009, she became a divisional director at the Trust for the Leeds Children’s Hospital, Women’s, Head and Neck Services, and the Leeds Dental Institute.

Stacey joined Airedale NHS Foundation Trust in July 2013 as Chief Operating Officer where she worked for six years.

Currently, she works as the executive director of Acute Provider Collaboration for Bradford and Airedale Foundation Trusts, a post she has held since April 2019.

Stacey has recently been seconded to Yorkshire and Humber Nightingale Hospital as Chief Operating Officer in response to the Covid-19 crisis.