Liverpool's main hospital trust has announced its new boss.
The Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - which covers the city's Royal and Aintree sites - has appointed James Sumner as its new Chief Executive.
Mr Sumner will take over from interim Chief Executive Sir David Dalton to head up one of the largest hospital organisations in the country.
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He arrives with more than 20 years of experience in the NHS and is currently Chief Executive of Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
His immediate priorities will be to lead the trust out of the Covid-19 pandemic and to oversee the move into the heavily delayed new Royal Liverpool Hospital, which is due to open this summer.
Previous chief executive Steve Warburton announced his resignation in August, saying it was the "right time" to step down.
Mr Warburton had been chief executive of Aintree Hospital before that hospital's board merged with the Royal Liverpool Hospital in 2018, creating LUHFT.
Since then the hospitals battled through the pandemic but faced other problems, including a major issue with thousands of patients not receiving follow up appointments at Aintree's Gastroenterology department.
Some of those patients suffered "catastrophic harm" including finding they had developed late stage cancer.
The trust was also hit with two worrying inspection reports from healthcare watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which found some covid procedures were not being adhered to.
Announcing the appointment of Mr Sumner, Sue Musson, Chair of Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LUHFT), said: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of James Sumner as our next chief executive. I welcome James to LUHFT and look forward to working with him in serving our patients and our staff. James is an outstanding and exceptional appointment for our Trust.
"He is absolutely the right person to take LUHFT forward. He brings to the role a deep understanding of our focus and priorities on improvement, culture, and working with partners to shape the future of healthcare for patients and the communities we serve."
Starting his career in primary care in 1999, Mr Sumner then moved to the acute sector in 2005.
He has held several operational and strategic posts including Deputy Chief Executive at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and Chief Officer at Salford Royal Hospital, before joining Mid Cheshire Hospitals as Chief Executive almost three years ago.
Speaking about his appointment, Mr Sumner said: “I am delighted to be joining LUHFT as its Chief Executive. This is an organisation with an exciting future and great ambitions.
"It is an honour and privilege to have the opportunity to work with my new colleagues within the Trust and all our partners across the Liverpool city region. I look forward to beginning our journey to realise the promise of LUHFT to deliver the great care our staff are committed to providing and that our patients deserve.”
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