Walsall hospital boss 'behaved poorly' with chair 'complicit'

Prof David Loughton apologised if senior leaders felt a "lack of compassion or respect", in a statement issued jointly with Prof Field

The chief executive of a hospital trust "behaved poorly" while its chairman "failed to address this behaviour", a report has found.

An external review took place at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust after whistleblowers raised concerns.

It said chief executive Prof David Loughton spoke about both executives and non-executive directors negatively, referring to them as "useless" more than once.

The pair have issued an apology.

Prof Loughton, chief executive of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, was also made the interim chief executive at the Walsall trust in April. The trusts already shared Prof Steve Field as chairman since March.

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

The report, authored by Dr Kathy Mclean, included with papers for the trust's board meeting on Wednesday, said the initial experience of Prof Field was "predominantly positive".

However, board members expressed concerns he "exaggerated the quality issues" at the hospital and was heard to say "if I knew what I know now I would not have taken the job" and that he "was ashamed to call himself chair of Walsall".

The report said people interviewed had felt unsupported by Prof Field "when the interim CEO did not appear to be listening or had seemed brusque or direct".

It added while some interviewees described Prof Loughton as "straight talking" they added he was at times felt to have "stepped beyond respectful communication".

"Undermining was a word used by several interviewees in relation to the CEO with examples given where he used denigrating words about board members in settings where those being managed by them were present," the report added.

Prof Steve Field became the joint chair of the Wolverhampton and Walsall trusts in March

In her conclusions, Dr Mclean said she found Prof Loughton "whilst motivated by the safety and care of patients has behaved poorly and inappropriately and that the joint chair has been complicit with and failed to address this behaviour".

The report made seven recommendations, including that the chair and chief executive "reflect on and acknowledge the impact of their behaviour on some members of the board and other leaders at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust".

In a letter dated 31 January, also included with the board papers, Jeff Worrall, senior leadership advisor at NHS England and NHS Improvement said progress had been made on the recommendations, with board members adding they were "working together more effectively" with the executive team and that "challenge at the board is reasonable and fair and there is no restriction on difficult conversations".

The trust runs Walsall Manor Hospital

In their joint statement, also issued with the papers, Prof Field and Prof Loughton said they were aware they had put pressure on senior leaders to make improvements.

In wanting to make improvements "quickly", they said, "we have used direct and directive language to inject a sense of pace".

"We are sorry if this has caused offence or been construed as a lack of compassion or respect," the statement added.

"Our aim is to create a cohesive team and an effective organisation and we will reflect on how we can achieve this while continuing to strive for the very best care for the people of Walsall, which they deserve."