By Pamela McGowan Health reporter

Last updated at 15:17, Wednesday, 19 September 2012

A leading nursing union has welcomed the appointment of a new hospital boss in north Cumbria.

Ann Farrar

Ann Farrar took over as interim chief executive of the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital last week – a month later than initially announced.

She has been seconded from her role as chief operating officer at Northumbria Healthcare – the trust in the process of taking over the Carlisle and Whitehaven hospitals.

She will now be responsible for their day to day running until the deal is finalised.

Estephanie Dunn, northern region operational manager with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union, said she was delighted that Mrs Farrar was finally taking the reins at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust.

“The trust and its new management team now have a great opportunity to move forward in delivering the much-needed reforms to the resourcing, structures and practices at the trust,” she said.

“Patients, staff and the Cumbrian community have the right to have the very best healthcare that is properly resourced and managed, and we hope that the new leadership team will be able to deliver on this.

“Cumbria has a high quality clinical workforce, with dedicated nurses and healthcare assistants and we look forward to working with Ann, to ensure that the workforce are properly supported during this transition period.”

The union is now seeking an initial meeting with the new interim chief executive, who has brought with her two other managers from the Northumbrian trust.

Mrs Farrar has pledged to tackle recent safety concerns at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust with more openness.

She said that she wanted to encourage more reports of potentially serious near misses at both hospitals in Carlisle and Whitehaven.

“Northumbria has one of the highest reporting rates in the country and that’s seen as a positive culture,” she said.

PMcGowan@cngroup.co.uk

First published at 11:24, Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk