Care quality expert Dr Kathy McLean appointed as non-executive director
The former medical director of NHS Improvement, Dr Kathy McLean, has joined Barts Health NHS Trust as a non-executive director.
Dr McLean will chair the quality assurance committee of the Trust Board and oversee the quality governance arrangements that ensure clear accountability from ward to board in all five hospitals in the group.
She replaces Dr Thoreya Swage, who is standing down after her term comes to an end on 30 November 2019. Dr McLean is also Chair of University Hospital of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust.
“I am delighted to be joining Barts Health,” she said. “It will be a great privilege to work with such fantastic people to continue to make improvements on behalf of patients. Barts Health has made impressive strides in its quality agenda in recent years, and I’m looking forward to taking this further to deliver the very best care for our patients.”
Dr McLean’s work has focused on improving quality by building in clinical leadership and expertise across the NHS. Prior to NHS Improvement, Dr McLean was the Medical Director at the NHS Trust Development Authority and the Clinical Transitions Director working with Sir Bruce Keogh building the NHS Commissioning Board, now NHS England.
In early 2019, Barts Health came out of special measures for quality, with the CQC rating two of its four main hospitals as ‘good’, with St Bartholomew’s rated ‘outstanding’ for its leadership and The Royal London rated ‘outstanding’ for its dental hospital. Barts Health is now rated ‘good’ in three out of the five criteria set by the CQC (being caring, effective and well-led) and 70 per cent of all service areas are rated ‘good’ or better. CQC also singled out more than 35 separate areas of outstanding practice.
Ian Peters, Chair of the Barts Health NHS Trust Board, added: “I am thrilled that Kathy is joining the Barts’ board as she brings unparalleled insight and experience of best practice across the NHS. She will help us build on our recent strong momentum towards our aim to be outstanding. I’d also like to thank Thoreya Swage for her successful leadership of our quality agenda over the last few years.”