Southern Health trust interim chair resigns

The interim chair of troubled Southern Health NHS foundation trust has become the latest senior figure to quit the organisation.

The trust has been widely criticised for failing to investigate more than 1,000 unexpected deaths of patients with mental health problems or learning disabilities.

Tim Smart was appointed to the post in May, shortly after the resignation of Mike Petter, who stood down just before the publication of a critical report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which said the trust was still not doing enough to protect people in its care.

But Smart faced criticism after the chief executive, Katrina Percy, who had been under sustained pressure to stand down, did so last month, only for the trust to reveal that she would continue to be employed in a new role as strategic adviser, with the same pay and benefits.

On Monday, a trust spokesman said: “Tim Smart has taken the decision to resign from his position as interim chair, with immediate effect, for personal reasons. Since his appointment in May this year, Tim has made a considerable contribution to the trust, driving through changes necessary to improve our services. We would like to thank him for his time and dedication.

“We are working with NHS Improvement to appoint a new interim chair as soon as possible. In the meantime, Malcolm Berryman, as deputy chair, will ensure that the duties of the trust board are carried out.”

The trust’s leadership was censured in an independent report commissioned by NHS England after 18-year-old Connor Sparrowhawk, who had learning disabilities, drowned in a bath after an epileptic seizure at Slade House in Oxfordshire in July 2013.

In December, the report, carried out by the audit firm Mazars, concluded that failures by the trust’s board and senior executives meant there was no effective management of deaths or investigations and a lack of “effective focus or leadership from the board”.

The CQC, which subsequently carried out a snap inspection, identified similar failings, noting that the leadership did not proactively address risks “before concerns are raised by external bodies”.

Percy had been urged to quit, including by Sparrowhawk’s mother, Dr Sara Ryan. There was also pressure from the Liberal Democrats’ health spokesman, Norman Lamb, and the former shadow mental health minister Luciana Berger, before Percy finally stood down.

On her resignation, Smart praised Percy as having “shown great resilience, devoting herself to the patients and staff of Southern Health”. He also said she had left the trust well-positioned. But the trust’s appointment of Percy to a new role prompted more criticism, with Ryan describing it as “totally sickening”.

Earlier this month, Smart compounded the anger when he disclosed that Percy’s new role had been created for her. Her salary is quoted in the trust’s annual report as between £180,000 and £190,000.

In June, the trust accepted responsibility for Sparrowhawk’s death and agreed to pay his family £80,000 in compensation. Last October an inquest jury concluded that neglect contributed to the death of the teenager, who was known affectionately as Laughing Boy or LB.

Southern Health trust interim chair resigns