Barts Health, and Barking Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals have done away with a combined chair, following previously shelved plans to form one executive board, reports Marco Marcelline

King George Hospital in Goodmayes, and Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, Credit: Barts/BHRUT

Two East London NHS trusts are to appoint different chairs, doing away with the “chair in common” role that was previously held by Jacqui Smith.

The move comes after paused plans to effectively merge the boards of Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs Whipps Cross Hospital, and Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT). The board merger was part of plans to form “one hospital group”.

The two NHS trusts manage seven hospitals serving more than two million people.

Jacqui Smith chaired both trusts from 2021 until her resignation in July in order take up a position in government after being offered a peerage to the House of Lords.

In a statement announcing the return to an individual chair, Barts said their new chair will head the acute provider collaborative (APC), in order to “ensure continued focus on joint efforts across [Barts and BHRUT]”.

All trusts in the country that provide acute health services are required to be part of one or more provider collaboratives.

The APC also includes Homerton Healthcare Trust, which will continue having an individual chair. Barts added that it remains “committed to closer collaboration” with BHRUT despite the abolition of the chair-in-common role.

Marie Gabriel, chair of the North East London Integrated Care System, said that having three separate chairs would allow each trust to concentrate on its unique challenges while “avoiding duplication of the work of the APC”. ,

Shane DeGaris, Barts Health Group CEO, will continue to provide executive leadership to the APC while overseeing “collaborative workstreams” between the two trusts. The chief executives of BHRUT and Homerton Healthcare will also play key roles, each leading one of the APC’s three main priorities, Barts said.

Meanwhile, Adam Sharples and Mehboob Khan will serve as acting chairs for Barts Health and BHRUT, respectively, while the recruitment process for the new chairs takes place.

Barts Health and BHRUT first agreed to collaborate more closely in 2021, and proceeded to appoint several executives overseeing both trusts.

In October 2023, the trusts revealed they planned to become “one group” under the “shorthand” of Barts NHS Group. Denying the planned move was a merger, the trusts defined the group model as “localising where possible but centralising where necessary”. It would have also seen the coming together of their executive boards.

On 22nd January, the trusts announced a pause of those plans to form one executive group team, reportedly because of a request from NHS England.

In a statement the trusts said the pause would “shift the focus” from corporate reorganisation to “collaboration between separate provider trusts through the APC”.

A spokesperson for North East London HCP said in response to questions about the future of Barts Health Group: “BHRUT and Barts Health have already confirmed a pause in implementation of joint leadership and governance arrangements, and this isn’t changed by the announcement that each trust is to recruit an individual chair. The acute provider collaborative is the vehicle for the trusts to work together. Executive accountabilities are not affected by the decision to appoint separate chairs to the two trusts.”

Editor’s note: This article was updated on 29/08 with a comment from North East London HCP

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