A NEW Chief Executive will take over the leadership of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust in Spring 2025.
Ellen Rule has been appointed to the top job, following a full and thorough nationally advertised selection process involving local partners and NHS England.
Ellen will take over from interim chief executive, Robert Mackie, who stepped into the role in April 2024, following the retirement of long serving Chief Executive Sarah Dugan.
Currently Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Strategy and Transformation at NHS Gloucestershire, an integrated care board (ICB), Ellen will start her new role on 1st May 2025.
She has worked in the NHS in Gloucestershire for over 10 years, joining Gloucestershire from the NHS in Bristol in the summer of 2014.
Ellen has worked for the NHS since 2003, and in that time has held a variety of senior positions in commissioning and provider organisations spanning service redesign, assurance, contracting, operational management and strategic planning.
She said: “I feel very privileged to be appointed as Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust’s new Chief Executive, particularly at this critical time as they move forward on the next stage of their improvement journey.
“I am really looking forward to meeting and working with Herefordshire and Worcestershire colleagues, stakeholders, patients and carers across the health and care system.
“Every part of the NHS is under significant pressure at the moment and Herefordshire and Worcestershire are no exception. When I join the Trust in May, I’ll be focusing on making sure that we do everything we can to look after our patients and our staff to the highest standards against this challenging backdrop.”
Mark Yates, Chair of the Trust, said: “I’ll be delighted to welcome Ellen as our new Chief Executive and I am really looking forward toworking with her.
“The interview panel that oversaw the recruitment process was really impressed with Ellen’s approach to leadership and her very clear focus on patients, carers and the staff of the Trust; we were absolutely unanimous in her appointment.
“Ellen’s leadership skills and wealth of experience will be hugely beneficial in leading our organisation through the next steps of our improvement journey and I know the Trust Board and local partners fully support her appointment and are keen to welcome Ellen to build on the achievements of our Trust.”
Robert Mackie will stay in his role as Interim Chief Executive until Ellen joins the Trust later in the year.
