Hospital Trust announces ‘surprise’ retirement of CEO

Pennine Acute Trust Chief Executive, John Saxby

John Saxby has announced his retirement as CEO of Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust which runs services at the Rochdale Infirmary, Fairfield General, the Royal Oldham and North Manchester General Hospital. The news was announced to staff in an email last weekend.

An insider, who asked not to be named, told Rochdale Online: “The news came as a complete surprise to us."

John Jesky, Trust Chairman, said, “John Saxby, Chief Executive of The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, has written to me stating that he wishes to retire by no later than his 65th birthday in September 2014.

“I am most grateful to John for giving the Trust significant advance notice of his intention to retire which will allow for an appropriate length of time to complete the recruitment, selection and handover process.

“Following competitive interviews, search consultants Gatenby Sanderson have been appointed to assist the Trust Board in the recruitment of a new Chief Executive. This work will commence immediately.

“There will be many opportunities in due course to mark John’s retirement and thank him for his significant contribution both to the Trust and the wider NHS across a 40 year period.”

Mr Saxby has been criticised locally for the movement of services away from the Rochdale Infirmary and in particular, for the closure of A & E but leading local health campaigner and former Healthcare Support Worker Jean Ashworth said: “I do wish him well. My argument was never with him it was the system and certain managers who took advantage of their positions."

Mr Saxby was appointed CEO following the resignation of former CEO Chris Appleby and Chairman Stephen Price in 2006 in the wake of the Trust being heavily criticised in the Alberti Report. His time with Pennine has been spent against a backdrop of severe financial pressures imposed on NHS Trusts from central government.

He is known in the Trust as a hard worker who is usually at his desk from early morning until mid evening; often returning from his family home in the North East on Sunday afternoon to attend to his paperwork.

It was generally felt that Mr Saxby would postpone his retirement until the Trust achieved Foundation status but his decision to go now is understood to be due to personal reasons.