Wolverhampton hospital boss made chief executive at Walsall trust

Prof David Loughton will take on a shared role across hospital trusts in Wolverhampton and Walsall

A hospital boss has been made the interim chief executive of a second trust.

Prof David Loughton CBE, chief executive of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust will take over the same role at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust.

The change is to improve patient care and to support Walsall in improving its Care Quality Commission (CQC) rating, the Wolverhampton trust said.

The Walsall trust is currently rated as "requires improvement".

Walsall Manor Hospital was placed in special measures in 2016, but was taken out in 2019, while Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust's CQC rating is good.

The trusts already share a chairman, Prof Steve Field CBE, who said the move was a "great opportunity to share, learn together and continue to make a positive difference for the people we serve".

Analysis by Michele Paduano, BBC Midlands Today health correspondent

Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust runs New Cross Hospital in the city

The idea is bigger is beautiful in a world where it is becoming harder to attract staff to small district hospitals, but the timing and the manner of the announcement was a surprise.

The board at Walsall had appointed an interim chief executive, whilst its own, Richard Beeken, was away helping out at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust.

The chief executive there, Toby Lewis, has been mysteriously absent for nearly a year.

So it doesn't feel like a short term move and if it's not, someone doesn't have a job.

"Undoubtedly, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust has been on a journey as they focus on improving care, areas of development and building on their good practice such as innovation and compassionate patient care," Prof Field added.

"I believe that David's expertise and leadership, brings a timely and high-quality response to enable Walsall's improvement journey."

Walsall Hospital NHS Trust came out of special measures in 2019

He thanked Walsall's previous acting chief executive, Daren Fradgley, for his "hard work and dedication".

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Prof Loughton, who has held his role in Wolverhampton for 17 years, said: "I look forward to working with the team at Walsall on the next steps of this journey".