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The country's first joint social services director and primary care trust chief executive role has been "dismantled" after a disagreement over whether the holder of the post should be sacked.

Barking and Dagenham Council announced that Julia Ross had given up responsibility for running Barking and Dagenham Primary Care Trust because the PCT wanted to dismiss her after it was given a zero star rating in July.

The local authority said this was unfair given the insufficient funding the PCT had received from the government in an area of high deprivation, and decided to "dismantle" the role. Ross will now revert back to being director of social services at the council.


The disagreement represents a major blow to the government's integration agenda. The joint post, which was created two years ago, was regarded as a pioneering move leading the way in closer working between local government and the NHS and has been copied by other councils including Southwark and Knowsley.

Graham Farrant, chief executive of the council, said: "The PCT wanted a change and the trigger was the zero star rating."

He said Ross was given a positive appraisal in May, and could not believe the PCT wanted to remove her so soon afterwards. He put it down to a greater tendency in the health service to blame individuals for an organisation's performance shortcomings.

Four other joint posts will be changed, Farrant said, so the staff involved will go back to working either for the council or for the PCT. Farrant said he did not want any employee of the council to also be answerable to the PCT board.


Carolyn Regan, chief executive of North East London Strategic Health Authority, said the PCT was completely unaware of the council's decision to withdraw Ross, and only found out when a press release was issued.

She said the council's timing was "strange" so soon after the PCT had been given a zero rating and a recovery plan had been drawn up.

Ross, who retains her role representing social services on the NHS Modernisation Board, said she still believed a joint role across the two organisations was the right policy, but admitted it "may have to be done differently".