Announcing her departure, the Trust’s Chair Steve McGuirk CBE congratulated Mel on her appointment and expressed his thanks and appreciation on behalf of the Trust’s 4,400 staff.

“Mel has been at the helm of WHH for the past eight years and during that time has steered us through to becoming a Foundation Trust and then through the monumental changes brought about by the Health and Social Care Act of 2012.

During this time she has been a highly motivated, focussed and energetic chief executive with a strong track record of achievement. She leaves a legacy of commitment to and investment in high quality care for our patients. This includes very high levels of patient recommendation across all of our services, driving down mortality rates at the Trust (now in the ‘as expected’ range) and better waiting times and outcomes for patients across a wide range of indicators. We await our Care Quality Commission report which is imminent and feel confident that this important and independent test of quality will show significant improvements since our last inspection in 2017.

She has also launched the extensive programme of work that will take us to a new hospital for Warrington and our proposed hospital and wellbeing campus at Halton. Our staff reported the best-ever response and results in the national staff opinion survey this year and under Mel’s encouragement, we are among the top five Trusts in the country to take up their flu vaccinations.

More widely, Mel has been tenacious in working towards sustainability through collaboration and we have recently announced exciting plans for the future with our community colleagues Bridgewater Community Health NHS FT. Our recent participation in the procurement exercise for the Urgent Care Centres in Runcorn and Widnes was a strong combined offer with GP colleagues and the community trust.

She has also led the Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership during the past 18 months. She has been an inspirational leader who displays commitment, authenticity and passion and I speak on behalf of the whole TeamWHH family when I say that she will be sadly missed. Mel’s departure date is still to be agreed but Professor Simon Constable, currently deputy CEO and executive medical director will become Acting CEO until we fully review our requirements of a leader in light of our ambitions to become an Integrated Health and Social Care Trust.”