Four senior directors leave North Wales health board
Four senior directors have left or are preparing to leave Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board during a continuing review of the organisation's leadership and governance.
Chief executive Carol Shillabeer's report for the board's 24 September meeting says Angela Wood, executive director of nursing and midwifery, has retired. Chief operating officer Tehmeena Ajmal has recently left, while executive director of finance Russell Caldicott and director of environment and estates Stuart Keen have secured jobs outside the health board.
Interim leaders due in October and November
The report says an interim chief operating officer will start on 5 October and an interim executive director of nursing and midwifery will join in early November. It does not name either interim appointee.
Betsi Cadwaladr says permanent recruitment is also progressing. The board describes the arrangements as a way to maintain accountability and oversight during the transition. It has not set out a complete timetable for filling all four roles permanently.
A separate announcement says Caldicott will leave at the beginning of October after three years with the health board. He is joining University Hospital of North Midlands as chief finance officer. The board paper does not give Keen's departure date or identify his new employer.
Review has not yet reported
The changes come while an independent panel carries out a Well-Led Review of the health board. Its remit covers strategy, culture, the effectiveness of the board and executive team, leadership capability, governance and accountability.
The review began in August and is expected to finish in October. The board paper says the panel has reviewed documents, observed meetings, interviewed senior leaders, held staff sessions and visited acute and community sites. It also says no findings, conclusions or recommendations have yet been received.
The health board has been in special measures since February 2023. That status is part of the context for the review, but the published documents do not say the four departures were caused by it.
What is known and what is not
The public record confirms four departures and two interim start windows. It does not support a conclusion that the directors left for the same reason, and it does not yet show what the independent panel will recommend. Cover Wales will update this report when the review is published or the permanent appointments are announced.