Dudley Integrated Health & Care NHS Trust announces planned retirement of Chief Executive, Paul Assinder
PRESS RELEASE 19 November 2021
Dudley Integrated Health & Care NHS Trust announces planned retirement of Chief Executive, Paul Assinder
Paul Assinder, Chief Executive of Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust (DIHC) is retiring at the end of December 2021. Paul who stepped into the role of Chief Executive in April 2020, has led the formation of this new Trust and its expansion over the last two years.
Paul will retire and ultimately make way for a new substantive CEO to lead the Trust going forward. In the meantime, the Trust has appointed Penny Harris as its new Interim Chief Executive.
Penny will be joining DIHC on a part- time basis from Monday 22nd November 2021 and will formally commence in her role on 1 st January 2022, continuing until the end of June 2022. During that time DIHC will recruit to the substantive role of Chief Executive.
Harry Turner, Chair, said “Paul has done a tremendous job leading the organisation as Chief Executive for the past 20 months, including the pandemic and all that entails”.
“The Board and his colleagues are deeply grateful to Paul for his leadership at DIHC and for his significant number of years of dedicated service to the NHS”
Paul added “It has been an absolute privilege to work for the NHS for 38 years and more recently to serve as Chief Executive at DIHC. For me, healthcare is a people business and I have worked with some outstanding colleagues over the years who are committed to providing the best care possible to the communities they serve.
I have always supported the ethos of working across organisations and systems to organise care around the individual. This is integral to our vision for integrated care in Dudley and am proud of what we have achieved so far at DIHC. I look forward to following the completion of DIHC’s journey in the near future”
Paul will remain in place to support Penny until the end of the calendar year. Harry added ‘We are delighted that Penny has agreed to join us at this exciting time, to offer us her valuable experience to take us into our next development phase”.
Penny has extensive experience of working in and alongside the NHS and social care sectors at a senior level, including several CEO positions. Her portfolio has included implementing models to integrate health and social services and more latterly, strategic planning, system management and delivery in support of developing integrated care systems (ICS).
Penny Harris said “I am really looking forward to working with colleagues to develop the services for the population of Dudley and continue to build a strong primary and community care system. DIHC is a truly unique type of Trust, and I am excited to be a part of it.”.
