One of the region's biggest NHS trusts has a new boss - and he's hoping to "get on the front foot" and begin tackling the "huge surge" in demand the pandemic has seen for mental health support.
James Duncan is the new chief executive of the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust - which is one of the largest mental health and learning disability trusts in the country.
After more than 20 years at the Trust, he's stepping up to the top job to replace the retiring John Lawlor - and though he accepts Covid-19 has exacerbated a "really challenging" situation in both mental health and learning disability care, he's keen not to dwell on how hard things may be and to instead begin tackling the backlogs.
