Northamptonshire: Health director to leave Covid major incident county

Northamptonshire director of public health Lucy Wightman is to leave the county to take up a new role in Essex

The public health director in a county which declared a major Covid incident last week is to leave her role.

Lucy Wightman has told staff in Northamptonshire she will take up a similar post in Essex.

On Friday, Northants declared a major Covid-19 incident with hospitals, care homes and other services facing critical staff shortages.

West Northamptonshire Council leader Jonathan Nunn said Ms Wightman had done "an exemplary job".

Over the past two years, Ms Wightman has faced high profile coronavirus-related challenges in the county including the recent Omicron outbreak in Brackley and the closure of Greencore in Northampton on August 2020.

Ms Wightman, who will take up the role of director of public health at Essex County Council, will leave at the end of the financial year, in early April.

Northamptonshire's two unitary authorities are already working towards splitting public health services in the county, with each council due to take on its own director of public health.

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Ms Wightman said: "In my six and a half years working in Northamptonshire, I've had amazing support from staff in public health, and many colleagues across the health and care system and wider public services.

"I would like to thank them for their diligence and professionalism, particularly during the past two years and the extreme difficulties presented by the pandemic."

Dr Mike Gogarty is retiring from his post as director of public health, Essex County Council said

Conservative Mr Nunn said: "I've worked closely with Lucy, particularly over the past few years as we've battled Covid, and she has done an exemplary job in that time."

Chief executive of North Northamptonshire Council, Rob Bridge, said Ms Wightman had played an "important role" in the authority's response to Covid.

He said John Ashton, a former regional director of public health in north-west England, would be joining the authority in an interim role while a permanent replacement for Ms Wightman was sought.

An Essex County Council spokesman said the authority was "delighted to welcome Lucy Wightman... we look forward to working with her in the future".

"We thank Dr Mike Gogarty, who is retiring, for his hard work, excellent advice and bravery in leading Essex through the Covid-19 pandemic," he said.