A NEW chief executive has taken over at one of the county's major health trusts.

Dr Nick Broughton started as head of Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust on Tuesday replacing Stuart Bell, who retired after 38 years working within the NHS.

He plans to spend the first few weeks getting to know the organisation, which runs Oxfordshire's community hospitals and mental health services.

In one of his first acts as new chief executive was to hold an hour long webinar for all staff with trust chair David Walker.

Dr Broughton has joined the trust from Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, where he led the organisation from a CQC rating of ‘Requires Improvement’ in 2017 to ‘Good’ in January 2020.

Prior to that he was chief executive of Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

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As a consultant psychiatrist for more than 20 years specialising in forensic psychiatry, he has held medical and clinical director roles, and a variety of other managerial positions, including as a director of Imperial College Healthcare Partners.

He obtained his medical degree from Cambridge and completed his training at St Thomas’ Hospital, London.

He said: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining Oxford Health and have no doubt that the trust has the potential to become an outstanding provider of care. My priority will be enabling us to achieve this together.

"I am passionate about research and partnership working, so am keen to build upon the strong links with academic institutions that Oxford Health has already established."