Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust has appointed Colin Ovington as successor to Rachel Overfield who has been Chief Nurse at the Trust for the last six years.
Colin is an experienced Director of Nursing, who has worked at Queen’s Medical Centre, advised Strategic Health Authorities on best practice on infection control, and was recruited in 2010 to help rebuild and recover quality of care at Mid Staffordshire.
In his role at Mid Staffordshire, he has led impressive work on safety and compassion, and begun to introduce deeply embedded skills in risk management. He describes his experience at Mid Staffordshire, listening to the first hand experiences of patients and families, as “humbling and emotional.”
Chief Executive Toby Lewis, said; “During the selection process, I was impressed with Colin’s personal resilience and his focus on standards of nursing care, as well as a consistent emphasis on multi-professional teamwork being at the heart of what we do.
“No healthcare organisation can have too many implementers in its leading ranks, determined to make change happen at pace to improve quality for patients.”
Richard Samuda added; “This Trust Board is ambitious for the future, and we need to make sure that the basics of good quality care are never forgotten. Colin brings a strong track record of focusing on safety and I know he will be a strong advocate for patients within our executive and leadership team.”
Following his appointment, Colin said; “I am delighted to have been successful appointed to the Chief Nurse post at SWBH. I met with only a small selection of staff as part of the interview and look forward to meeting others shortly. I was very much of the opinion that I will be joining the trust at an exciting time in its development and I am looking forward to working with you, knowing that the focus will be about patient safety and the drive for improvement.”
Colin’s focus will be to build on the Trust’s achievements in nurse leadership and quality of care, ensuring the experiences of patients and their families continues to improve and that nursing colleagues are enabled to care for their patients with compassion.
Colin’s nursing career in the NHS spans 34 years, nearly half of which have been in senior leadership roles and seven at Director level, including three roles as Director of Nursing and one as Turnaround Director for Infection Prevention. The bulk of his clinical career has been in neonatal and paediatric intensive care.
He hopes to take up his post this calendar year.
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