Portsmouth hospitals' chief praises city for all its support during a 'difficult' period

Mark Cubbon, head of Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) which runs Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham and St Mary’s Hospital, offered the praise in his final message before leaving the trust this week.

Mr Cubbon – who is taking up a new national role in the NHS leadership team – led the overhaul of standards at Queen Alexandra, with health inspectors rating it ‘good’ last year being rated as ‘requiring improvement’.

During the past year, Mr Cubbon and his team across the city, have also battled tirelessly to save the lives of hundreds of people infected by Covid-19.

In his swansong message to the people of Portsmouth, Mr Cubbon told The News: ‘Earlier in the week I announced that I was leaving my role as chief executive at PHU and taking up a national role with NHS England/Improvement as deputy chief operating officer.

‘This was a difficult decision as my time here at Portsmouth has been one of great memories and it has been a real privilege leading my local hospital for almost four years.

‘I have always been struck by the amount of support we have from our local communities, who have stuck with us throughout the good and the more challenging times.

‘We have all worked hard to deliver the improvements we have seen over the past years and we couldn’t have achieved much of this without your ongoing support.

‘The past year has been difficult for us all and kindness and generosity you have shown to teams right across the trust has been incredible. I cannot thank you enough.

‘There are many plans in place to future-proof the QA site so we have the right facilities to meet the future demands on our services, whenever you need us. There will be additional beds later this year while additional theatres and the construction of the new Emergency Department are expected to start next year.

‘Personally, I am so proud of the team here and am delighted that Penny Emerit will be taking up the role of chief executive. Penny along with the existing team will continue working together to take PHU forward and I hope you will not only join me in congratulating her but offer her the same support you have given me over the years.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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