Betsi Cadwaladr health board has new chief executive

Jo Whitehead says "it really is a homecoming for me"

A north Wales health board in special measures for five years will have a new chief executive in January.

Jo Whitehead will join Betsi Cadwaladr from Mackay Hospital and Health Service in Queensland, Australia.

Ms Whitehead said she was "determined to help the health board meet its challenges and provide health care services our communities and our staff can be proud of".

She replaces Gary Doherty, who left the health board earlier this year.

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"I am looking forward to working in the NHS in Wales, and it really is a homecoming for me, north Wales is where I was born and grew up and so it is a real honour," she said.

In June, Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething said the health board "has made progress" and would not remain in special measures for "forever and a day",

But he did not provide a timetable for bringing the north Wales health board out of more direct Welsh Government control.

The decision to put the health board in special measures came after a report found "institutional abuse" at the Tawel Fan mental health ward at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Denbighshire, which closed in 2013.

The health board serving north Wales has been in special measures since June 2015

Announcing the appointment in a written statement on Wednesday, Mr Gething said Ms Whitehead was chosen using a competitive recruitment process.

He said she had "demonstrated during the process a strong understanding of the health and social care challenges for the region and a clear sense as to how they should be addressed".

'One of toughest jobs in public life'

Darren Millar, Conservative Senedd member for Clwyd West, said: "This is one of the toughest jobs in Welsh public life. The Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board needs a period of stability. "I look forward to working with Jo Whitehead when she starts work, and I wish her the best as she prepares to return to North Wales."

Plaid Cymru health spokesman Rhun ap Iorwerth said Ms Whitehead was "joining a ship that's already been torpedoed by Labour government inaction".

A "new model for delivering health and care in the north of Wales" was needed, he said.

Interim chief executive Simon Dean took over in February after former chief executive Gary Doherty left the job. Mr Dean will return to his role as NHS Wales deputy chief executive from September.

Betsi Cadwaladr deputy chief executive and director of nursing Gill Harris will be the health board's acting chief executive from September until the end of the year.