Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust (MEHT) have confirmed the appointment of Nick Alston CBE, DL, as chairman of the trust. Mr Alston will take up office on November 1.
The appointment of Mr Alston follows the announcement that current chairman, Professor Sheila Salmon (since 2010) would be stepping down at the end of the month to take up the role as chair of Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust.
Professor Salmon said: “I am delighted to hand the baton on to Nick, safe in the knowledge that the trust will continue to benefit from his excellent strategic leadership and insight into the health and social care economy in mid and south Essex. It is particularly important that the trust continues to benefit from leaders of Nick's calibre during this period of transformation and I know that he has the full support of the site leadership team and the entire trust board.''
CEO of the trust, Clare Panniker said: “We are indebted to Sheila for her exemplary service to the trust and delighted that Nick has agreed to succeed Sheila and chair the board. I have worked with Nick for 18 months and have total confidence in his ability to keep us on course for the next stage of our journey.”
A former Essex Police and Crime Commissioner, Nick was born and lives in Chelmsford and has served on the trust board since 2011 as a non-executive director.
He said: “I am honoured to have been appointed to the role of chairman for MEHT. We have a very strong leadership team and some of the finest clinical and non-clinical staff absolutely committed to providing the best possible treatment for all those that need to access our services.
“We have an exciting period approaching working with our partner trusts, Basildon and Thurrock University NHS Foundation Trust and Southend University NHS Foundation Trust to ensure that we can secure high quality care for our patients into the future.”
