THE hospital's new joint chief executive officer has been announced.
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Royal United Hospitals Bath Foundation Trust (RUH) and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust have announced the appointment of Cara Charles-Barks as their joint chief executive officer.
This news comes after it was announced at the beginning of October that the three trusts would share a chief executive officer, but they will have their own boards, executives and leaders.
She said: “I am delighted to have been appointed joint chief executive officer of the three trusts in Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire at this pivotal moment in the NHS’ history.
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"As three trusts we now have the opportunity to learn together, to tackle inequalities in access to services, to work together to remove barriers to good health and provide improved health outcomes for all our communities.”
Cara, who will be in post from Friday, November 1, Cara qualified as a Registered Nurse in 1990 in Australia, and now has 30 years of experience in both the public and private health care sectors.
On five occasions, she has been named one of the NHS's top 50 chief executives.
Cara has been the chief executive officer of the RUH since September 2020, and before that, she was CEO at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, during which time she received an MBE as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her leadership during the Novichok incident.
In June 2019, she was appointed Honorary Colonel of 243 Multi-role Medical Regiment, part of the Army Medical Services.
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Chief executive of Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board Sue Harriman said: “Cara’s appointment is excellent news for our three hardworking acute hospitals and our wider health and care system.
“True collaboration adds real value to patient care and all three hospital trusts have a unique role to play in strengthening the support that local people and communities count on at every stage of their lives. Under Cara’s expert leadership, our hospitals will be stronger together and I look forward to seeing the benefits of these new arrangements over the coming years.”
The implementation of a joint leader does not mean that patients will be sent elsewhere in the patch for treatments; they will still be seen at their nearest hospital.
The trusts will be able to work in collaboration to treat people closer to their homes.
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