East of England Ambulance panel rejects five candidates

An ambulance service criticised over poor response times has failed to find a new chief executive.

Five unnamed candidates applied for the job at the East of England Ambulance Service Trust, but none was suitable.

Interim chief executive Andrew Morgan will continue in his role, the trust said. It did not say whether he was one of the rejected candidates.

The panel which interviewed the candidates "were not able to recommend an appointment", the trust added.

Dr Geoffrey Harris, chair of the trust, said: "This decision was not a reflection on the quality of the candidates but a reference to the challenging circumstances in which the trust is now operating."

Five non-executive directors resigned in June over a damaging report about the trust's performance.

The Trust provides ambulance services in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.