Permanent Finance Director appointed to Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

A permanent Finance Director has been appointed to Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.
Annie Carr, a chartered accountant with an extensive background in public and commercial sector financial management will start with the Trust in January.

Annie replaces Malcolm Dennett who joined the Trust in January 2006 on a one year fixed term contract. Malcolm intends to continue applying his experience to contributing to strengthening financial management and performance within the public sector. He is pleased that the Trust has been successful in making a substantive appointment to take the Trust forward for the longer term.

Roy Davies, Chairman for Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust said: “On behalf of the Trust board I would like thank Malcolm Dennett for his dedication over the last year. He has been instrumental in helping to bring about positive changes. I would like to welcome Annie to the board and look forward to working with her as we move forward towards further stabilising the financial position of the organisation. She brings with her immense experience in financial management and accounting which will undeniably be invaluable to the organisation.”

Annie joins Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust from Sussex Ambulance Service where she held the position of Interim Director of Finance and Resources until June this year. Previous to this role, Annie was a Non Executive Director for the ambulance Trust. Prior to taking a career break to raise her daughter, Annie worked for MGM Assurance for eight years first as a management accountant, progressing to Financial Controller and then Director of Finance and Company Secretary. Annie spent 4 years with KPMG gaining experience in the financial services, manufacturing, FMCG, aviation, travel and public sectors.

Annie Carr said: “I am looking forward to joining Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and being part of the team who are bringing about positive changes and driving forward sustained improvements to the financial position. Already, the organisation has reduced the monthly overspend by around £2 million a month and I am confident that together we can reduce this overspend further by the middle of next year.”

She continued: “The challenge that faces any new Finance Director of an NHS organisation in deficit is immense but I’m confident that Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust will turn itself around to be a local health service we can all be proud of.”

Annie lives in Ansty in West Sussex. She was appointed following a robust selection process which included a panel interview with health authority representation, an external assessor, new Chief Executive, Gail Wannell, Trust Chairman, Roy Davies and David Bailey, Chair of the Trust Audit Committee.

-Ends-

Notes to the Editor

• The annual salary for new Finance Director Annie Carr will be £95,000.

Harrowlands sold to specialist health organisation

Harrowlands, a former NHS neurological rehabilitation care centre in Dorking has been sold to Partnerships in Care (PiC), a professional healthcare organisation that specialises in care for those with mental health problems and learning difficulties.

Following a robust tendering process, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust sold the premises last Thursday (9th November) to PiC for £3.75million. The proceeds from the sale will help the Trust to meet its obligation to reduce borrowing needs.

A new name for the facility has already been chosen by the new owners and it will be called Pelham Woods. The centre is expected to open in late 2007 and around 40 jobs will be created to help manage and run the centre.

A spokesperson for Partnerships in Care said: “The premises at Pelham Woods, Dorking, will allow us to provide much needed services to disadvantaged women who are in need of specialist care in a quality environment.

“We have 18 facilities located around the UK currently providing in excess of 900 bed spaces. Services we provide include specialist units for people with mental illness, learning disabilities, brain injury, rehabilitation units and community placements for supportive living. A high staff/patient ratio is a feature of our service together with staff training and development which are a top priority”.

Notes to Editors:

Background

• The service at Harrowlands was closed because in recent years, the way neurological rehabilitation care is delivered has changed. Rehabilitation teams now work with patients in the community and in their home environment rather than in hospital. For this reason, PCTs changed the way rehabilitation services were funded in 2003 and transferred funding from acute trusts to community services.
• Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust were unable to continue managing the service at Harrowlands without the necessary funding (the unit cost £1.5million per annum) and a decision was made in July 2005 to close the unit. This followed unsuccessful efforts to transfer the service to alternative providers.