A new Chief Executive with more than 30 years’ experience in the healthcare sector will take over two Black Country NHS Trusts early next year.
Joanne (Joe) Chadwick-Bell has been appointed Group Chief Executive for The Royal Wolverhampton and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trusts following a competitive and open recruitment process.
Joe will take over from Interim Group Chief Executive, Caroline Walker, who stepped into the role in May this year, following the retirement of long serving Chief Executive Professor David Loughton CBE.
Joe is currently Chief Executive at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT), an integrated acute and community provider, and will start her new role early in January 2025.
Sir David Nicholson KCB CBE, Chair of the Trusts, said: “I’m pleased to announce the appointment of Joe as our new Group Chief Executive and I am really looking forward to working with her.
“I know that her skills and wealth of experience will be hugely beneficial in supporting us with our next steps and I’m sure that with the support of the Trust Board, the Executive Team and colleagues, she will build on the achievements of both organisations.’’
Joe has more than 30 years of experience in the health sector. She began her NHS career working in the Pharmacy Department at Eastbourne District General Hospital back in 1989 and has worked in both ambulance and acute provider Trusts as well as spending a period of time in a Strategic Health Authority.
She progressed to senior leadership roles in the provider sector, before moving to the independent sector in 2013 to become a Regional Director for Care UK, responsible for the delivery of primary care services, including out of hours, 111, GP practices and Walk in and Urgent Care Centres.
She returned to the NHS in 2016, becoming the Chief Operating Officer at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT), an integrated acute and community provider. She became Deputy Chief Executive in 2019, was appointed acting Chief Executive in 2020 and in 2021 was substantively appointed to the Chief Executive role.
She is looking forward to working in the Black Country and will relocate to this area to take up her new role.
She said: “I recognise this role is a huge privilege and I am really looking forward to meeting and working with Wolverhampton and Walsall colleagues and stakeholders across the Black Country system.
“Every part of the NHS is under significant pressure at the moment and Wolverhampton and Walsall are no exception. When I join the Trusts in January, I’ll be focusing on making sure that we look after our patients and our staff to the highest standards against this challenging backdrop.”
Caroline Walker will stay in her role as Interim Group Chief Executive until Joe joins the Trusts next year.