Croydon NHS appoints Chief Operating Officer
Croydon NHS appoints Chief Operating Officer
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust has appointed a new Chief Operating Officer, in the latest senior appointment to bring the hospital and community services at the Trust closer together with NHS Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to better plan and improve healthcare in the borough.
Lee McPhail has more than 20 years’ experience within the NHS, including leading operational roles at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and Barts Health NHS Trust. Lee is currently the Interim Chief Operating Officer at Croydon Health Services, having joined the Trust in October 2018 as the Programme Director for Integration. He became the Trust’s Interim Chief Operating Officer in November 2018.
Mike Bell, Chairman of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, said:
“Our waiting times for cancer patients and many of our planned care services are now some of the shortest in London. This is due in no small part to the calibre of our clinical, managerial and support teams but also to Lee’s management of our services, which is continuing to help many people get the care they need quickly in Croydon. It is important that we continue on this journey for all of our services.”
As Chief Operating Officer, Lee will be responsible for the daily running of Croydon University Hospital and the Trust’s community services throughout the borough. Working closely with the Trust’s Medical Director and Chief Nurse, Lee will also be responsible for making continued improvements in the Trust’s performance and peoples’ experience of care to match the high standards of clinical outcomes, which includes low mortality rates that are better than the national average. He will also be key to the work we are doing to further integrate health and care services across the borough.
Speaking about the joint appointment, Lee McPhail said:
“It has been a fantastic 12 months since I first joined the Trust and I am really proud of all that we have achieved so far. But I am even more looking forward to what collectively we can do next, to join-up our care and support for our community.”
Lee is the latest senior appointment across the local NHS Trust and Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Building on the success of the One Croydon Alliance, the aim is to help care for Croydon’s growing population and support more local residents to live and stay well.
In July 2019, Matthew Kershaw was appointed as the Trust’s Chief Executive and Place Based Leader for Health in Croydon. The appointment follows a series of joint positions across the local health and care system including a Chief Pharmacist and a Chief Nurse for Croydon.
Matthew Kershaw said:
“Working together we can give our staff the freedom they need to deliver more coordinated care in our borough. This will help us to look after our population as our community continues to grow and will limit duplication across the Trust and CCG to free-up resources to support the frontline.”
Dr Agnelo Fernandes, Clinical Chair of NHS Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group, added:
“As a local GP, looking after someone’s health often involves more than one public service. With health and care working closer together in Croydon, we can reduce the gaps between services for local people and make the most of the expertise we have in the borough care for people in hospital and closer to home, in the neighbourhoods in which they live. Lee’s appointment in this key role is essential for us to ensure systems and processes improve our efficiency, productivity and ultimately bring about better health outcomes for local people in Croydon.”
From 01 October, Matthew and a shared leadership team will be responsible for the planning and delivery of local health services across the borough. There will be separate accountability for the commissioning and payment of local NHS services.
Applications for the Chief Operating Officer role were received from candidates across the country, and the rigorous assessment process included a panel interview with representation from health regulators NHS England and NHS Improvement.
More senior appointments between the local NHS Trust and NHS Croydon CCG will be announced over the coming weeks.
Notes to editors
- Profile of Lee McPhail, Chief Operating Officer at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust.
Lee joined CHS in October 2018 as the Programme Director for Integration to help strengthen integration and partnership working in the borough. With established partnerships between the local NHS, GPs, Local Authority and voluntary sector collaborative working is a real strength in Croydon. Finding ways to maximise resources and deliver more coordinated care will help to develop services in the long-term to care for Croydon’s growing population. Lee began his NHS career as a Clinical Governance manager in 1999. Most recently, he was Chief Operating Officer at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, and Director of Operations at Barts Health NHS Trust and prior to this, North Middlesex University Hospitals NHS Trust. - Latest NHS England data (July 2019) shows that Croydon University Hospital was the second best in London for seeing 97.4% of urgent cancer patients within two weeks – above the 93% standard. July’s performance places Croydon University Hospital within the top ten nationally.
The Trust’s latest expected mortality rates are now at 85.5 – significantly lower than the UK average of 100, given the range of complex conditions treated.
- The One Croydon Alliance partners are: Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group, Croydon Council, the Croydon GP Collaborative, South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and Age UK Croydon. Focused initially on older people in Croydon, the alliance has been extended to provide more joined-up care and support for people of all ages in the borough. One example includes the introduction of six new Integrated Care Networks (ICNs) covering every corner of the borough. Weekly reviews are now held in every GP practice in Croydon to confidentially review a person’s care and proactively plan how services can work together to keep them well. They bring together general practitioners with district nurses, social workers, and pharmacists and are helping health and care professionals in the borough proactively tackle issues that can affect someone’s health and wellbeing, including, loneliness, mobility problems and long-term conditions, that could lead to hospital treatment if left unattended. The first pilot, set up in the most deprived part of the borough, saw a reduction in unplanned hospital admissions in Croydon.
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trust provides hospital and community services in the borough. The Trust employs more than 3,800 staff and provides integrated NHS services to care for people at home, in schools, and health clinics across the borough. The Trust runs two hospitals in the north and south of the borough: Croydon University Hospital is home to the borough’s new £21million Emergency Department and 24/7 maternity services, including a labour ward, midwifery-led birth centre and the Crocus home birthing team. There are also ophthalmology services run by Moorfields Eye Hospital. Purley War Memorial Hospital in the south of the borough offers outpatient care, including diagnostic services, physiotherapy, alongside an onsite GP surgery. The Trust’s emergency care doctors and nurses have teamed up with local GPs to run a seamless network of urgent care services across the borough, including booked appointments with a GP available seven days a week. The Trust’s experienced district nursing teams, Allied Health Professionals and community matrons look after people of all ages across Croydon and its Children’s Hospital at Home cares for children with long-term conditions without them having to come to hospital.
- NHS Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) plans, buys and monitors the majority of local health services for the population of Croydon. These local health services include: Planned hospital care; Urgent and emergency care (including out of hours services); Community health services (for example physiotherapy and district nursing); Mental health services; Services for people with disabilities; GP services, including prescribing. The CCG is a clinically-led, membership organisation bringing together all 54 GP practices in the borough of Croydon into one commissioning organisation. The CCG’s member practices are represented by the Council of Members and the Governing Body is responsible for overseeing the CCG’s statutory and community responsibilities.
- For more information please contact daniel.pople@nhs.net on 07554438621. For media enquiries outside of normal office hours and weekends, please call the Trust’s main switchboard on 020 8401 3000 and ask for the Press Officer On-Call.