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46) CEO OF E.K. HOSPITAL TRUST LEAVING HER POST- WE CAN ONLY HOPE THAT HER SUCCESSOR WILL WILLINGLY LISTEN AND ENGAGE WITH OUR CAMPAIGN AND PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS. FROM HER APPOINTMENT IN 2018, A YEAR AFTER REBECCA’S SUICIDE, MS ACOTT DENIED AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE EXISTENCE OF FAILINGS RELATED TO HER LOSS, AND HAS NOW BEEN RIGHTFULLY HELD TO ACCOUNT FOR ALLOWING THE DEVASTATION TO CONTINUE.

23rd Sep, 2021 | Information

 

Chief executive of scandal-hit NHS trust to step down

Susan Acott will leave her role next spring, four years after being appointed

Samuel Lovett  Wednesday 08 September 2021The chief executive of a NHS trust that was investigated over a major maternity scandal is to step down from her role, it has been announced.

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust (EKHUT), which has been hit by significant quality concerns, has announced that Susan Acott will be leaving her position next spring, four years after first being appointed.

Ms Acott oversaw the trust, one of the largest in England, during a period of intense turbulence and scrutiny.

The Independent revealed in 2020 that more than 130 infants suffered brain injuries during birth at the trust over several years.

The scandal was exposed by the family of baby Harry Richford who died after a catalogue of errors by maternity staff in November 2017. A coroner ruled his death was the result of neglect and was “wholly avoidable”.

In the first such criminal prosecution of an acute care NHS trust, East Kent Hospitals admitted to failing to provide safe care and treatment for Harry and his mother and was fined £733,000 as a result.

A spokesman for EKHUT said that Ms Acott was leaving to “pursue her interests in helping improve health and wellbeing in coastal communities”.