Pennine Unions Give Cautious Welcome to Interim Chairman

Date published: 02/03/2006

Unions at strife-torn Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust gave a cautious welcome to the announcement by Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority that John Jesky has been appointed as interim Chairman. Pete Hinchliffe, Trade Union Convenor for the Trust said, “We are somewhat baffled as to why this appointment was made. When Chairman Steven Price was forced to stand down last month, we understood that non-executive John Battye would retain the role of Acting Chairman until a permanent appointment could be made. If someone else is eventually appointed as permanent Chairman, this will mean that four different people have occupied the chair in as many months. It’s a bit like DFS on a Bank Holiday Monday!

“We understand that Mr Jesky runs a company that specialises in providing Christmas foods and vouchers. We hope that he will not feel ‘hampered’ by all the changes in the Pennine board in the past few months. We also welcome  the announcement by the Strategic Health Authority that no break up of Pennine is envisaged. Patients and staff really need stability in the organisation and for people to stop playing politics with the region’s health services.”