The interim chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has been appointed to the post permanently, the hospital has announced.

Jonathan Coulter has held the post on a temporary basis previous chief executive Steve Russell went on secondment as national director for vaccines and screening with NHS England last February.

His move was made permanent in December, after which HDFT began recruiting nationally for a replacement. HDFT chair Sarah Armstrong said:

“I am delighted Jonathan has been appointed to the role of chief executive and I know he will lead the organisation with care, dedication and commitment.

“This is an exciting time for our trust. We are committed to providing the best possible level of healthcare for our community and we have a number of exciting projects over the next few years which will further improve on the high quality health and wellbeing service we provide.

“Jonathan’s knowledge and experience will be invaluable in driving these projects forward and I am very much looking forward to working closely with him in the future.”

Mr Coulter has worked in the NHS for more than 30 years, of which 20 have been as a director. He became finance director at HDFT in March 2006 before being appointed deputy chief executive four years later.

He said:

“I am delighted to have been appointed permanently into the role of chief executive.

“HDFT is a brilliant organisation with wonderful people. It is very humbling to be in a position to support all of our fantastic colleagues to be the best that they can be, and continue to do what we try to do every day, which is to help and support the people who need us.”

Read more:

• Sharp rise in overseas nurses recruited at Harrogate hospital
• Harrogate hospital advertises for new chief executive

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust is advertising for a new chief executive.

Steve Russell left the role last year to take up a secondment at NHS England as director for covid and flu vaccinations.

In December, it was confirmed Mr Russel had taken up a position as director of vaccination and screening permanently and would not be returning to Harrogate.

The trust, which runs both Harrogate District Hospital and Ripon Community Hospital, has been overseen by acting chief executive Jonathan Coulter since February 2022.

A notice on the trust’s website advertising the role closes on April 26 with interviews due to take place on May 10 and 11.

No details of salary is included. However, Mr Coulter is paid a salary of £181,000.

Read more:

• Harrogate hospital chief will not return from NHS secondment
• Harrogate hospital employs security staff for first time
• Inspectors says Harrogate hospital maternity services ‘requires improvement’

The role requires a candidate to have five years’ experience at board or director level and to ensure the trust’s services are “safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led”.

The move to appoint a new chief executive comes as the trust tackles long waiting lists, A&E waiting times and junior doctors strikes.

Last month, the Care Quality Commission also rated Harrogate hospital’s maternity services as “requires improvement”.

However, Mr Coulter said the rating was “not a fair reflection” of the service.

Steve Russell will not return to his role as Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT) chief executive after accepting a national director position with NHS England.

In February, Mr Russell left his role in Harrogate to take up a secondment as national director for covid and flu vaccinations at NHS England.

The secondment was due to last up to a year but he has now been offered a permanent role as director of vaccination and screening.

HDFT chair Sarah Armstrong thanked Mr Russell for his efforts at a HDFT board of directors meeting in Harrogate on Wednesday.

A HDFT spokesperson added:

“We would like to warmly congratulate Steve and wish him every success in the future.

“In the meantime, the current executive team arrangements will continue to operate whilst we consider what the permanent arrangement will be.”

Read more:

• 500 Harrogate hospital staff apply for cost-of-living hardship fund
• Harrogate hospital employs security staff for first time

Mr Russell was appointed chief executive in April 2019 and was in charge of the trust during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also led the organisation during the creation of an NHS Nightingale hospital at Harrogate Convention Centre. The hospital closed last year without treating any Covid-19 patients.

Jonathan Coulter has been working as HDFT chief executive since February and will continue in the role until a permanent appointment is made. He is paid a salary of £181,000.

Mr Coulter is a qualified accountant and has taken on a number of roles at various hospital trusts.

He joined HDFT as finance director in March 2006 and has also worked as deputy chief executive.

Steve Russell. chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, is to take up a secondment as national director for covid and flu vaccinations at NHS England.

Mr Russell will replace Dr Emily Lawson in a role that could last up to a year.

He will leave the trust for the time being on Friday next week.

Steve Russell

Angela Schofield, chairman of the trust, which runs Harrogate District Hospital and Ripon Community Hospital, said in a statement today:

“Steve’s new role will take him away from HDFT for at least six months and potentially up to a year.

“I know that, while he is looking forward to this new opportunity, he is eager to return to HDFT.

“We are very fortunate to have a strong executive team and board, which has meant we have the resilience in place that has allowed Steve to take up this opportunity.

“While Steve is away we need experienced leadership to maintain our progress and I am delighted to let you know that Jonathan Coulter, who is currently deputy chief executive and our director of finance, will become acting chief executive, and Jordan McKie, our deputy director of finance, will take up the role of acting director of finance.

Jonathan Coulter

Mr Russell announced the move on Twitter this afternoon.

https://twitter.com/steve_r76/status/1494330025524416518

Read more:

• 788 Harrogate hospital patients were sent back to care homes without covid test
• Harrogate hospital paid consultants £82,000 to investigate bullying

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has paid consultants £82,000 to investigate concerns of a “culture of bullying” within the organisation.

Deloitte was commissioned for £30,000 to examine concerns about leadership and culture at the trust and Harrogate Integrated Facilities, a a wholly-owned subsidiary that supplies services to Harrogate District Hospital and community services.

A 2018 national NHS staff survey, a British Medical Association member survey and the trust’s own ‘fair and just culture’ diagnostic had triggered concerns.

After it found issues in some areas of the service, the trust commissioned Deloitte for a further £52,000 to undertake a detailed review of leadership and recruitment practices at HIF which was published at a trust board meeting in June 2020.

Deloitte’s report said some staff described the culture at HIF as “toxic”. It cited cases of people being ignored or ostracised, belongings defaced with offensive graffiti and people’s lockers and equipment being glued.

£82,000 culture review

The initial review included interviews with 52 members of staff and 63 surveys. It found “widespread concerns” over bullying, leadership and poor recruitment practice at HIF.

The report said a “significant number” of those interviewed explicitly stated that bullying was taking place or described events that could be labeled as such. It added some of the reports were dismissed as “banter”.

Read more:

• Harrogate hospital investigates bullying culture in estates department
• NHS writes off £13m in Nightingale hospital beds cost

Deloitte also found that the approach to recruitment at HIF “did not demonstrate good practice” and recommended a thorough review of its policies.

As a result, the trust launched a formal investigations into the findings.

Trust ‘confident’ it has addressed report findings

The Stray Ferret asked the trust how it had addressed poor recruitment at HIF and whether any staff members were disciplined as a result of the investigation.

The trust said it was confident its recruitment policy complied with company policy and that it had addressed Deloitte’s findings.

Steve Russell, chief executive of HDFT, said:

“In 2018, we conducted a staff survey which showed that whilst staff at both HDFT and our subsidiary company Harrogate Integrated Facilities generally had positive experiences, there were some experiences that were not in line with the trust’s values.

“We felt that a more detailed assessment of culture at HDFT and HIF was required to help us to understand the issues. It was important that the assessment was independent, objective and avoided conflicts of interest to ensure we had an accurate picture of what we were doing well, but more importantly what we needed to improve on.

“Deloitte was commissioned at an initial cost of £30,000 to undertake the assessment. This revealed a number of issues that needed to be addressed in a small number of services, and we decided therefore to commission a second piece of work from Deloitte at a cost of £52,000, which explored in much greater detail the areas of concern that had been identified.

“The concerns have been treated as a matter of priority. An investigation into the issues identified within our radiology department was undertaken by two experienced people who were independent of the trust and each other. Their finding and recommendations have been used to improve the environment for our staff.

“A formal investigation into allegations and harassment in estates and HIF was undertaken by colleagues within the trust. A capacity and capability review of leadership in HIF was also conducted by an independent, experienced NHS director of estates and facilities. This review has led to changes within the company. We are confident that recruitment practices now comply with the company’s policy.

“There are a number of other changes we have made in line with the plan we published at the time of the Deloitte review to improve the experience of colleagues who work here and this work will continue.”

The race is on to vaccinate around 450 frontline staff at Harrogate District Hospital after the government announced it was making covid jabs mandatory.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid last week announced he expected to set a deadline for all unvaccinated workers to get both jabs by the beginning of April in a move which he said would help protect patients and the NHS as a whole.

However, there are concerns it could lead to more staffing shortages in the health service which is still dealing with pandemic pressures and long backlogs.

The vaccine mandate will affect around 100,000 unvaccinated staff in England and follows a consultation which considered whether the rules already in place for care home workers should be introduced.

It is estimated around 90% of all staff are vaccinated, although the numbers vary at different hospital trusts with coverage at some falling to around 80%.

At Harrogate District Hospital, the figure is 91% although bosses believe it could be higher as it doesn’t take into account new starters or staff who have been vaccinated outside of work.

Steve Russell, chief executive at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said: 

“The vast majority of our staff have had their covid-19 vaccinations, however, there are a small number who have not yet been jabbed.

“We understand there can be a variety of reasons as to why some staff have elected not to have the vaccine.

“We are keen to support those members of staff who are eligible for the vaccine, but have yet to have it, to try and allay their concerns using impartial, factual information.”

The deadline for care home workers to get vaccinated passed last week with around 250 staff in North Yorkshire now facing losing their jobs if they can not be redeployed.

Read More: 

• Major drop in applications for social care jobs across North Yorkshire 
• Care sector staffing crisis in North Yorkshire prompts major recruitment drive
• Compulsory covid vaccines make recruitment harder, say district care homes

Officials at North Yorkshire County Council – which has launched its biggest-ever care recruitment campaign – say vaccine take up in the county has been good, although they admitted the numbers of unvaccinated staff was still significant for a sector already struggling with a depleted workforce.

If a similar trend is seen for the NHS, the health service could find itself severely short of staff come the spring.

Mr Russell added: 

“On a daily basis we see how severe the effects of contracting covid-19 can be and it is important that we do all that we can to ensure the safety of our patients, visitors and staff.

“The covid-19 vaccination is an effective means of preventing the spread of the virus by building protection. Since it has become available we have been encouraging all of our staff – not just those that are patient facing – to get vaccinated.

“Over the last couple of months we have also been offering our colleagues the booster if they are eligible.

“We have and will continue to encourage colleagues who have not yet had the vaccination to get jabbed by spring 2022 and if the need arises we will follow government guidance regarding those people who have elected not to have the vaccination.”

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has said it is “disappointed” after an anonymous e-mail was circulated criticising chief executive Steve Russell’s leadership.

A highly critical e-mail has been circulated to non-executive directors at the trust, the chair of HDFT, Angela Schofield, the Care Quality Commission and to the media.

The e-mail, which is anonymous, makes unsubstantiated allegations against Mr Russell and accuses him of being at the centre of a culture of fear at the hospital.

The sender of the e-mail said it had been circulated as there was “no other way to safely surface” the concerns and that it was sent anonymously because of an alleged “fear of reprisal”.

It goes on to say that staff and senior leaders at the hospital are scared to speak up and the reason for the e-mail was a result of “two years of sustained and escalating behaviour”.

It says:

“We are scared. They are scared. We are worried. They are worried. We/they cannot speak up openly even with our internal routes available.”

The Stray Ferret tried to reach out to the anonymous sender, but received a bounce back e-mail.

Speaking on behalf of Mr Russell and Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, a spokesperson said in response:

“It’s disappointing that someone feels this way and has written what they have. We are proud that colleagues across the Trust provide high quality patient care and embody our Trust values.

“There are ways to raise concerns, including anonymously, both within the Trust and with external regulatory bodies, and we provide information and support for colleagues to do that wherever appropriate.”

Read more:

• Map shows second covid vaccine rate in Harrogate district
• Yorkshire Ambulance Service says some patients waiting ‘longer than we would like’

The trust appointed consultancy firm Deloitte to carry out a review into the trust’s culture and leadership in August 2019.

It included Harrogate Integrated Facilities (HIF), a subsidiary which runs the hospital’s estates.

The results of the review was published in a report last year.

The review found that staff view both the board of directors and executive, which includes Mr Russell, positively, with management being “frequently described as an open and inclusive team”.

However, the report found concerns over the hospital’s estates department.

Following interviews with 52 members of staff and 63 surveys, the report found “widespread concerns” over bullying, leadership and poor recruitment practice at HIF.

Behaviour cited in a report included defacing tools or belongings with offensive graffiti, collectively ignoring or ostracising people and damaging belongings of individuals, including gluing of equipment or lockers.

After the review, the hospital board agreed to launch an investigation which will be carried out by an external body into reported bullying and poor recruitment practice in the department.

The man in charge of Harrogate District Hospital has said racist abuse isn’t as uncommon in the town as many people think.

Steve Russell, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, was abused in the town centre following England’s 2-0 defeat of Germany on Tuesday.

A woman told him she was “proud to be white and British because we’re better than people like you”.

Mr Russell, who was born in Leeds, grew up in Sheffield and lived in London before moving to Harrogate, said he didn’t think racism was any more prevalent here than other places he lived but added:

“There’s probably a perception that stuff like this doesn’t happen in Harrogate because it’s a nice place, but it does.

“The reason I tweeted about it is because sadly this is something that happens more frequently than people think.

“People have been very kind in their comments in response to what happened. But many were surprised it happened and I’m not. If you talk to other people from ethnic minorities they probably wouldn’t be surprised either.”

Read more:

• Harrogate hospital chief executive racially abused by England fan
• Security guard racially assaulted in Harrogate

Mr Russell, who is in charge of more than 2,000 staff at the trust, was born in the United Kingdom to parents from India and was then adopted.

He said he was “as British as anyone else” but nevertheless experienced childhood racism frequently and although it became less common during his university years and beyond things had “got worse in recent years”.

Racism needs “calling out”

Asked what could be done to prevent it, he said it required people to be “good allies” and to call out racism while not putting themselves at risk of attack.

He admits he was more shaken than he realised by Tuesday’s incident, which happened close to the Odeon cinema. He recalls:

“I was walking home, minding my own business. There were lots of people in town celebrating, which was lovely.

“The woman said it to me just as I was walking past.

“In the moment I was just taken aback. I just put my head down and speeded up walking. It was only when I got in my flat I realised I was quite shaken by it.”

Mr Russell’s tweet has received almost 4,000 likes and has been shared a thousand times. He said:

“I’m really surprised by the number of people who have interacted with it. My tweets are not normally very exciting. They’re usually about what great work my team have done or about my cat!”

Nice. Just walked home in Harrogate. People celebrating the #EnglandvGermany win and a woman slurred ‘I’m proud to be white and British because we’re better than people like you’ at me.

Charming.

— #hellomynameis Steve (he/him) 💙 (@steve_r76) June 29, 2021

The man in charge of Harrogate District Hospital has been racially abused by England fans on his way home tonight.

Steve Russell, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, tweeted about the incident shortly after England’s 2-0 win over Germany.

He said that a woman shouted “I’m proud to be white and British because we’re better than people like you”.

Mr Russell is in charge of more than 2,000 staff who have been at the forefront of the fight against covid in the district over the past 15 months.

He has spoken about racism encountered in previous interviews, saying he had been told to “get back in my banana boat” while at school.

He has also said BAME colleagues deserve to be treated better.

Mr Russell’s tweet to his almost 4,500 followers prompted an avalanche of supportive responses.

One said the comment was “utterly vile”, another said “awful and just plain old barbaric” while another person said he hoped Mr Russell pointed out that most of England’s goals have been scored by Jamaican-born Raheem Sterling.

Nice. Just walked home in Harrogate. People celebrating the #EnglandvGermany win and a woman slurred ‘I’m proud to be white and British because we’re better than people like you’ at me.

Charming.

— #hellomynameis Steve (he/him) 💙 (@steve_r76) June 29, 2021

Read more:

• A year of ‘outstanding care’ under immense pressure at Harrogate hospital
• Harrogate hospital coping well with covid, says chief executive

Today’s National Day of Reflection marks a year since the start of the first lockdown. Steve Russell, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, writes for the Stray Ferret about how the trust has responded. 

Today marks the one-year anniversary of our first national lockdown. This past year has been such a challenge for everyone – not just in the NHS but across our all of our communities. It’s impacted on absolutely everyone in a way that so many of us have never before experienced.

Last week, we also marked the one-year anniversary of our first confirmed inpatient with coronavirus. It’s important we reflect on what our teams have pulled together to deliver since the pandemic began a year ago.

A year on, we have treated just over 800 patients who have suffered with covid. Of those, 600 people have been supported through kind and compassionate care and have been discharged home, but sadly 183 patients lost their lives in the pandemic at our hospitals.

Our community discharge team has supported over 4,500 discharges home during this time, providing the equivalent of 7,000 bed days in patients’ own homes.

Our district nursing services adapted and continued to provide outstanding care to patients in their own homes. They have carried out over 113,000 face-to-face contacts and our specialist care teams have added a further 5,000.

Our 0-19 services (health visiting and school nursing) also had to adapt their ways of working but have continued to support 102,000 children and pregnant mothers during this time. They adjusted the type of support they offer as well as trying to safeguard against increasing levels of risk, which lockdown tragically caused.

Read more:

• The Bishop of Ripon writes today about the past year and why she has kept an abiding sense of hope.
• Take a look round harrogate Hospital’s new ICU after its £1 million refurb.

I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to all of my colleagues across the trust and our partner organisations for their incredible efforts over the past year.

It now feels like an opportunity to look forward. Spring is officially here, the weather is getting warmer, more and more people are having the vaccine and we are easing out of lockdown. We can be really optimistic about getting back to something that more resembles ‘normal’.

That said, we can’t become complacent and we have to bear in mind that covid isn’t just going to disappear.

We will be living in a world where it exists but will be much more manageable. We already know so much more about it than we did at this point last year.

Please, keep following social distancing guidelines, wear a mask, wash your hands. If we’re all still doing this, it’s the quickest route back to doing the lovely things that we really want to do in life.