Update on the New Sutton Hospital
Sorry! But the latest update is – there is no update. We’ve asked around and nothing has been forthcoming.
We accept that our hospitals are busy elsewhere dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, but it hasn’t stopped them making political decisions.
The only news we have is that St George’s management seems to be more in control of our destiny than the old St Helier & Epsom Hospital management team.
The St George’s website states that “Epsom and St Helier and St Georges remain two separate trusts but with one executive team enabling us to work closer together and build on our strong foundations.” It also announced a new management team to take effect from the 10th of January.
The new team members, which seem to represent a strong bias towards St George’s, will be:
• Jacqueline Totterdell, Group Chief Executive Officer – the CEO of St George’s
• Dr James Marsh, Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer – the renal consultant at St Helier which is planned to move to St George’s
• Dr Richard Jennings, Group Chief Medical Officer – Chief Medical Officer of St George’s
• Arlene Wellman MBE, Group Chief Nursing Officer – Chief Nursing Officer at Epsom & St Helier
• Andrew Grimshaw, Group Chief Finance Officer – Chief Finance Officer at St George’s
• Paul da Gama, Group Chief People Officer – Chief People Officer at St George’s
• Stephen Jones, Group Chief Corporate Affairs Officer – Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at St George’s
• Kate Slemeck, Managing Director for St George’s Hospital – Chief Executive at The Royal Free Hospital
• James Blythe, Managing Director for Epsom and St Helier Hospitals – Managing Director of Merton and Wandsworth Clinical Commissioning Groups.
• Thirza Sawtell, Managing Director for Integrated Care – Executive Director of Integrated Care at Epsom & St Helier
A press release from St George’s states that these new team members were recruited “ following a rigorous selection process which included panel interviews made up of senior internal and external assessors” presumably also from St George’s!
The St Helier and Epsom website still shows the old executive board (as of 31st December) although it seems obvious that a number of senior managers have either moved on or lost their posts. It could almost be an episode of Holby City! Neither website has an update on the new hospital.
We hope this article may encourage the hospitals to be more transparent and will keep you informed.