Public governor of Southern Health steps down

John Green, a public governor for Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, stepped down this week.

In his resignation letter, he referred to the governance and management process in the NHS as ‘seriously dysfunctional.’

Mr Green, who was a governor for four years, wrote: ‘I wrote to minister of state for community and mental health Alistair Burt expressing my dismay at the farcical way in which the trust and NHS has managed affairs since the Mazars Report of December 2015.

‘I also indicated my dissatisfaction as to the conclusion and decision by the interim chairman of the trust not to censure the trust board.’

The letter added: ‘While I have no doubt whatsoever as to the dedication of the trust’s front-line workforce, support staff and their operational managers in delivering health and care services, I no longer have any confidence in the board of the trust.

‘I have therefore decided that I no longer wish to be associated with a senior management body, which I perceive to behave indifferently and arrogantly towards its customers, governors and its failures.’

As previously reported in The News, Southern Health has come under fire for not thoroughly investigating the deaths of patients.