Chief exec of Croydon NHS resigns after failed CQC report and joins Havering’s

�The chief executive of an NHS trust ordered to urgently improve its hospital services has joined Havering’s health trust.

Nick Hulme quit Croydon Health Services NHS Trust last week and is with Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUT), taking on a project management role.

Before Mr Hulme’s resignation, the leader of Croydon Council referred to “failed management” and a “breakdown in relations in the governance of our local hospital”.

A Care Quality Commission report into Croydon University Hospital last month found it was failing to provide high quality care for patients, enough staffing levels or a good enough complaints procedure.

BHRUT has also been criticised by the commission for its maternity services at Queen’s Hospital, Romford.

Med Buck, chairman of Havering LiNK, said: “We’re concerned about the trust as it’s already in a difficult situation and they are hiring a lot of managers. We need to see that the new managers will take the bull by the horns and improve patient care.”

Romford MP Andrew Rosindell said he hopes Mr Hulme is the right man for the key task of integrating health and social care.

BHRUT’s chief executive, Averil Dongworth, said: “I’m very pleased that he will be supporting our work to improve patient pathways and removing the barriers to patients getting the right care in the right setting.”

An NHS London spokesman said: “As is commonly the case with secondments, individuals can still be employed by an organisation but seconded elsewhere. Mr Hulme resigned from his post as chief executive of Croydon Health Services, but continues to be employed by the NHS in London.”