Chief executive of NHS trust quits her £300,000-a-year job

Chief executive of NHS trust quits her £300,000-a-year job in a honest letter to staff complaining that ‘life is just too short’

Siobhan McArdle is the boss of the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
She has been at the helm since September 2015 – but will leave in three weeks
In a letter, she said the ‘personal cost’ of being a CEO in the NHS is ‘just too high’

By Stephen Matthews Health Editor For Mailonline

Published: 16:59 BST, 9 September 2019 | Updated: 17:10 BST, 9 September 2019

Siobhan McArdle has been at the helm of the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation in the Middlesbrough region since September 2015

The chief executive of an NHS hospital trust has today announced she is quitting her job, saying that ‘life is just too short’.

Siobhan McArdle has been at the helm of the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the Middlesbrough region since September 2015.

But she has now decided to step down from her near £300,000-a-year role after ‘much debate’ with loved ones over the last 12 months.

In her resignation letter sent to staff today, Ms McArdle said the ‘personal cost’ of being a chief executive in the NHS is ‘just too high’.

Salary details published in the trust’s annual report for the 2018/19 financial year showed that Ms McArdle earned between £290,000 and £295,000.

The trust, which claims to care for 1.5million patients, requires improvement, according to its latest Care Quality Commission inspection.

The watchdog found in January that staff felt senior managers ‘were not visible, contactable or approachable’. Its report was published in July.

Health Service Journal – a specialist news publication mainly covering health policy – reports that the trust was £4.4million behind plan.

Salary details published in the trust’s annual report for the 2018/19 financial year showed that Ms McArdle earned between £290,000 and £295,000 (pictured, the James Cook University Hospital, which is ran by her trust)

The publication also reported that the trust was failing to hit targets in A&E departments, as well as referral to treatment and cancer waiting times.

In her honest letter, however, Ms McArdle told employees the trust – which has around 9,000 staff – is ‘not an organisation that requires improvement’.

She said: ‘I have always done my utmost to defend and promote the interests of our organisation.

‘And I have done so within a very challenging financial and regulatory environment, in a local health economy that I believe is underfunded and unsustainable.

‘Throughout my time in the NHS I am proud to have remained true to my own values, vision and high levels of integrity – values, vision and integrity that I know many of you also share.

‘However, after much debate with my family and friends over the last 12 months, I have now decided that the personal cost of being a CEO in the NHS is just too high and life is just too short.’

Ms McArdle joked that she is now considering a career as a football manager, after exceeding the average three-year stint for an NHS boss.

It is unclear if Ms McArdle – who claims to have a reputation for ‘straight speaking’ – has another role lined up when she leaves on September 30.

She said the trust, which operates two hospitals as well as other community services, is ‘underfunded’ and ‘financially unsustainable’.

Alan Downey, chair of the trust, said: ‘The board of directors, council of governors and I are sorry Siobhan has decided to resign as chief executive after serving the trust so well.

‘However, we completely understand that, after more than four years of giving her all to the organisation, she feels now is the right time to move on to new challenges and opportunities.

‘We want to thank Siobhan for the tremendous contribution she has made to the trust and wish her every success as she embarks on the next stage in her career.’

He said the board will soon start the process of recruiting a new chief executive, the Northern Echo reports.

WHAT DID HER RESIGNATION LETTER SAY IN FULL?

Hello everyone,

Following the latest round of financial forecasting and re-forecasting and what I consider to be too great a challenge with regard to the delivery of further productivity and efficiency savings at South Tees Foundation Trust, I am writing to let you know that I have decided to step down as CEO effective from 30 September 2019.

As many of you know, I joined the trust as director of transformation in April 2015 and shortly after that became a CEO in the following September, something which was certainly not in my career plan at the time. I think it is fair to say, given my reputation for straight speaking, I have lasted far longer than anyone, including me, thought I would – in fact I have exceeded the average term of office of three years for newly appointed CEOs in the NHS by a year and so I am now obviously considering a career in football management as my next move.

I have always done my utmost to defend and promote the interests of our organisation, and I have done so within a very challenging financial and regulatory environment, in a local health economy that I believe is underfunded and unsustainable. Throughout my time in the NHS I am proud to have remained true to my own values, vision and high levels of integrity – values, vision and integrity that I know many of you also share. However, after much debate with my family and friends over the last 12 months, I have now decided that the personal cost of being a CEO in the NHS is just too high and life is just too short.

South Tees Foundation Trust is a fantastic organisation made up of passionate people who have a great reputation for delivering excellence in patient outcomes and experiences. Although there is always room for improvement in an organisation of its size, South Tees is not an organisation that requires improvement. South Tees is also financially unsustainable without a much needed long-term financial recovery plan. A plan which not only addresses the shortcomings of our PFI contract but also deals with the burden of long-term debt that has built up over many years, and resolves the urgent need for capital investment. This is something the senior leadership team and myself have been fighting continuously for over the last four years.

We can all take both pride and satisfaction in having delivered a recovery plan totalling more than £140m over the last five years which has demonstrated that as an organisation we were and are prepared to deliver innovative change and improved efficiency whilst at the same time maintaining patient safety – we now however need to see real transformational change at a system wide level in order to make any further progress.

I hope you all know that I have absolutely given it my all over the last four years and have had a great time at South Tees, reconnecting with lots of old friends whilst also making many, many new ones. I will always remain a great supporter of this organisation and fully intend to continue to fight for a fairer deal for the people of Teeside, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Whitby and the surrounding areas – just from a very different place.

My final request would be that everyone now gets behind the board and senior leadership team. The board and senior leadership team may not always get it right, but I can assure you they work tirelessly on behalf of the organisation, its patients and its people, often at great personal cost to themselves and their families, as of course do many of you.

So my final ask is that everyone now pulls together and sticks together to ensure we get the fair deal South Tees Foundation Trust and our population deserves.

Siobhan

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