New hospital managing director announced

13 July 2012

A new managing director for Jersey’s General Hospital has been appointed to succeed Andrew McLaughlin at the end of his interim contract.

Following interviews for the post earlier this week in Jersey, Helen O’ Shea was chosen from the shortlist of candidates for the role.

Mrs O’ Shea is currently the interim Chief Executive at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, a role she has held since August 2011, during which time the trust gained Major Trauma Centre status.

Prior to taking on her interim Chief Executive role, Mrs O’ Shea was Chief Operating Officer and Deputy CEO for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust between January 2010 and August 2011.

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of 450,000 locally, but provides tertiary services to a total of 1.2m people. It employs approximately 5,500 staff and has a turnover of £390m.

Prior to working in Plymouth, Mrs O’ Shea was Acting Chief Executive and Director of Operations at Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust, and has also held a variety of senior roles in Leicester, including the post of General Manager at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, between 2001 and 2004. She began her career in health as a healthcare assistant, before training as a nurse. She is a registered general nurse, and in the early 1990s, worked as a ward sister and manager.

Speaking about her appointment, Mrs O’ Shea said "I am delighted to have been offered the opportunity to come and work in Jersey. I was hugely impressed with all of the people I met earlier this week and am very much looking forward to working with the teams to continue to deliver safe and accessible services. I am also excited about being able to lead the hospital and ambulance service through the changes outlined in the White Paper, as the opportunity for having a really positive impact on care delivery is there for us to develop."

CEO for Health and Social Services, Julie Garbutt said "Helen is very much looking forward to moving to Jersey, and said she was particularly attracted to Jersey as the Health and Social Services functions in the Island are already combined and all services are under a single management team. We are all very much looking forward to welcoming Helen and working with her to continue the excellent work which has been put in place by Andrew McLaughlin and his team within the hospital and the Ambulance Service. She brings a wealth of experience with her to this key role and we are delighted to have recruited someone of her calibre."