News

Richard Furze

Charity Friends of the Elderly has appointed Richard Furze as its new chief executive to succeed Geoffrey Dennis. Furze was previously director of finance having joined the organisation in 2001 from the Shaftesbury Society.

Sheila Norris has joined Lewisham Council as head of performance and strategy in the social care and health directorate. She is on an 18-month secondment from the Treasury where she was head of strategic management. Sheila's responsibilities will involve developing strategy in relation to the Children Bill.

The Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland has appointed John Dickie as its new head. Dickie, who was previously head of the youth unit at the Scottish Council for Single Homeless, took up his post this week.

Walsall Council has appointed Pauline Pilkington as its new assistant director of children's services. Pilkington has been the council's general manager in children's services since September 2001. She has spent most of her professional life at the council, starting as a social worker in 1981.

Jon Rouse has been appointed as chief executive of the Housing Corporation. He was previously chief executive of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) for 4 years.

Darren Shaw has joined Gloucestershire Council as head of service, children and families. Shaw has worked most recently in North East Lincolnshire, where he held a similar position.
Moira Swann, the authority's previous head of children's services, has a new
role as head of children's strategy.

Diane Lightfoot

The former head of marketing and communications at NCVO, Diane Lightfoot, has been appointed as director of communications and fundraising at United Response, the charity that works with people with learning difficulties or mental health problems.

 

 

The Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association has appointed Pauline Byers to a six-month post as professional officer for education. Byers, who is also a senior lecturer in public health at the University of Derby, takes over from Sarah Forester who has moved to a Sure Start project in south west London.

The National Patient Safety Agency and Royal College of Nursing have appointed Sharon Dennis and Frank Milligan to join 15 other clinical speciality advisers to promote patient safety in their speciality areas. Dennis is currently director of nursing and public involvement at North East London Mental Health NHS Trust. Milligan is senior lecturer at the University of Luton.

Accountant Mark Boisson and retired NHS manager Patricia Dedman have been appointed as non-executive directors to North East London Mental Health Trust (NELMHT). Clive Myers, who has seven years experience as a chairperson of NHS Trusts and London Borough of Redbridge councillor Aaron Powell have also been appointed as non-executive directors. Joining the four is Ron Jeffries, a retired journalist, who has already served a term of office with NELMHT.

Sue Aldworth has joined the Charity Commission’s London office as corporate planning and review manager from Fuji Xerox in New Zealand where she was responsible for business strategy and planning.

Paul Roberts

Paul Roberts has been appointed as the Improvement and Development Agency's strategic adviser for education and children's services. Roberts was previously a director of Capita Strategic Education Services. In this role he spent two years as director of education in the London borough of Haringey. He will take up his new post in early February.

Lesley Reid, director of social services at Plymouth Council, has announced her retirement, after a difficult year for the department in which its star rating fell from one to zero.

She led Plymouth social services for two years, and is leaving her post next month. Chief executive Mike Robinson will run the department until a new director is appointed.

Sue Regan has been appointed as the new policy director at housing and homelessness charity Shelter. Regan was formerly associate director and head of social policy at the Institute for Public Policy Research.

She has been specialising in housing, pensions, communities, antisocial behaviour and welfare policy during her time at the IPPR where she has worked since 1998.

The Stroke Association has appointed Averil Mansfield as its new chairperson of council. Mansfield has been a member of the council since April 1992. She became a member of the executive committee in 2001 on her appointment as vice-chairperson of council.

Mansfield replaces Lord Skelmersdale who is standing down after 10 years. Until recently she was a vascular surgeon working at St Mary's Hospital in London.

Louise Gordon

Louise Gordon has been appointed as director of housing and care for ENHAM, the direct service provider for the Enabling Partnership. ENHAM Housing and Care provides different types of accommodation with support and care programmes for disabled people.

Gordon was previously a manager at Berkshire social services where her responsibilities included local authority directly provided residential and day services for older people and the care management and commissioning team for physically disabled adults.

Andrew Lansley MP, the shadow health secretary, has been elected as the new chairperson of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Stroke. He was previously vice-chairperson of the group.

Baroness Betty Boothroyd has become a patron of national charity Friends of the Elderly. She was previously a speaker in the House of Commons.

The Scottish Executive's housing and regeneration agency, Communities Scotland, has appointed Angiolina Foster as its chief executive. Foster joined Communities Scotland as a member of the senior civil service in November 2001. She has been its acting chief executive since 15 September 2003. Foster is the first woman to head a Scottish executive agency.

Deryk Mead has retired as chief executive of NCH. Mead has bee in the post for over seven years.

Maurice Rumbold, the deputy chief executive, has taken up the role of interim chief executive while NCH recruits a new chief executive.

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association has appointed Bridget Warr as its chief executive with effect from April 2004. She is currently a member of the executive management board of Scope with responsibility for education, employment and supporting activities. She succeeds Geraldine Peacock who left the association last year.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection, which comes into force on 1 April, has appointed a team of regional directors, heads of service and a national director.

Averil Nottage, currently the acting chief inspector of the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI), has been appointed national director of value for money and service inspection.

The seven new regional directors (their current posts are in brackets) are:

North West – Alan Jefferson (NCSC’s regional director for the North West and West Midlands regions); Yorkshire & Humberside – Amanda Sherlock (NCSC’s transition director); East Midlands – Colin Hough  (NCSC’s operations director); Eastern – Jenny Owen (SSI’s eastern region director); North East – John Fraser (director of  SSI’s North East Region); South-East – Linda Hoare, (director of  SSI’s South East Region); and London – Mike Rourke (director of  SSI’s London Region).

The four heads of service are:

Data and market analysis – Mike Beazley (SSI’s head of performance); legal services – Louise Guss (head of legal services at the NCSC); finance – Terry McCrady (NCSC’s finance director); and external and internal communications - Sharon Atkinson.

Heather Wing (currently NCSC’s adult services director) has also been appointed to assist the commission with business continuity and performance improvement.

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