 |
| Carole Heatly |
I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in June 2010, within the NHS Trust run by Carole Heatly. They nearly cost me my life! I eventually organised a demonstration outside the hospital which was covered full page in the Daily Mail and on the BBC & ITV. The Trust threatened me with legal action if I went ahead with the protest, and they also refused to hold talks with me regarding concerns about the hospital. The demonstration was so successful that all our demands were met and hits on this blog exceeded 20,000! Along with others at the time, Carole Heatly resigned, as her Trust went from bad to worse. It was and still is, a failing organisation, constantly in the news with bad story after bad story. BUT, here is a link to this weeks story in the Cumberland News...
It was only after reading this article that I found out that she now has a plum job in New Zealand! I was flabbergasted!! Didn't her new employers ask for references? How is this possible? She did an awful job here in Carlisle, and was the head of our trust when some very questionable things happened, resulting in lives being lost.
I was eventually treated at Addenbrookes in the south of England, and am now luckily in remission. I continue to campaign to remove the 'Carole Heatly Team' and we are on the brink of success. Most people who worked under her have gradually resigned in the past 18 months. But, she can't possibly have been appointed on merit, so who did she know who landed her that job without any checks on her competence.
Glad to see you are still in the ring with them Daniel. This is plainly a widespread NHS problem. The Business graduates have completely taken over the Doctors' territory. You won't have failed to notice the trouble we have with our "Trust" in Morecambe Bay. Our Chief Exec. refuses to resign from his £400k job and despite the highest death rate, dead babies & mums, multiple watchdog condemnations, & public calls for execution, he continues to talk about "restoring public confidence"! He knows that polishing reputation is easier than delivering good care. We salute you Daniel, great NHS gladiator!
ReplyDeleteHi Daniel...I live in Dunedin NZ and was like you rather flabbergasted that Ms Heatly was appointed CEO of my local health authority after such poor performance in North Cumbria. I read that you had written to the Southern District Health Board in Dunedin...did you ever get a response?
ReplyDeleteHi, great to hear from you and many other concerned people in your area. No, I didn't get a reply from the Southern District Health Board or any of the hospitals in their area. I had no interest from the Otago Times or any of the newspapers in that area, so I have written to the Ministry of Health in New Zealand. I suspect, as in the UK, all these heads of large organisations drink from the same trough. Maybe more of a concerted campaign locally might raise some action, I will do my bit from here. But one thing is for sure, she will leave in a few years with a VERY large payout. That will have already have been written into her contact. Look out, you'll get our bankers next :-)
ReplyDeleteFrom the "Oh well, that's all right then" files....
ReplyDeleteOtago Daily Times (ODT)
New CEO ready to 'listen and learn'
Home » News » Dunedin
By Eileen Goodwin on Tue, 6 Mar 2012
News: Dunedin | SDHB
Carole Heatly started her new job at the Southern District Health Board yesterday.
The new chief executive of the Southern District Health Board says negative media attention she attracted after her last job reflects public ire against large-salary earners in England.
It was Carole Heatly's first day on the job yesterday, and in an interview with the Otago Daily Times, she said recent English media coverage critical of her salary being continued through a secondment was based on a leaked document that had been "completely misunderstood".
The negative attention had been "disappointing", as she had enjoyed a good relationship with the media until then.
Ms Heatly was chief executive of North Cumbria University Hospital NHS Trust but in the middle of last year was seconded to an entity called Advancing Quality Alliance North West.
In 2008, she took over the NHS trust, which had a multimillion-pound financial shortfall that would be addressed by a planned takeover by another trust.
The trust's financial problems were "at least 10 years" in the making, and she had been instrumental in organising the takeover deal that ensured its survival.
Top salaries were a focus in Britain because of concern over the excesses of the financial system.
"There's not many bankers in Cumbria, so the focus is on the public sector," she said.
Executive-level salaries in New Zealand were comparable to those in Britain, she said.
Asked to disclose her new salary, she said it was in the "ball park" of $450,000.
Her predecessor, Brian Rousseau, received $510,000 to $520,000 in 2010-11.
"It's not about money," she said.
Asked how she would tackle Southern District Health Board's forecast $10 million deficit, she said there were always "efficiencies" to be found.
This might include bulk purchasing, or working more closely with other DHBs.
Front-line services were the "last place you look" for finding savings.
There was much work to do in Southern to transform it into a properly functioning single DHB, as at present many services operated on the old DHB boundaries.
She was keen to establish "centres of excellence" to which patients would be sent, rather than duplicating services on different sites.
She emphasised she was new and would "listen, look and learn", rather than having preconceived ideas.
This week would be spent travelling around the DHB, including Southland and Central Otago, to speak to staff on different sites.
Next week, she would be in Wellington meeting officials.
New Zealand had a relatively streamlined health system with much less bureaucracy than other countries, she said.
As a public servant, she expected to be accountable to the community, which included an "open and honest" approach to media inquiries.
However, direct media access would no longer be direct in the first instance, as it had been under Mr Rousseau, with reporters advised to send inquiries through communications manager Steve Addison.
DHB chairman Joe Butterfield, in an interview with the ODT last month, said the board had been aware of the financial shortfall at the NHS trust, but it was not of Ms Heatly's making.
- eileen.goodwin@odt.co.nz
Guess I can stop worrying now!!
Laughable! Good luck with your health care :-)
ReplyDeleteYou are now the Simon Wiesenthal of Health Holocausts Daniel! Haha! Fancy her having to run to the other side of the world, but you found her!
ReplyDeleteThat has to be my favourite comment on this Blog ever Russ!! Thank you :-)
DeleteWatch out down there, the ex-Morecambe Bay Chief is now jobhunting as well. Tony Halsall but that's not what we call him.
ReplyDelete