Interim health boss ‘privileged’ to take on role

A new boss has been found to take the helm at NHS Orkney, until a permanent chief executive can be found.

In June, Laura Skaife-Knight announced her plans to leave the top post, and take on the role of chief executive at NHS Grampian.

Today (Tuesday, August 26), NHS Orkney announced that James Goodyear has been appointed as the health authority’s interim chief executive.

He will be moving from Yorkshire, where he was most recently executive director for strategy for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Mr Goodyear said he was “privileged” to take on the new job.

He added: “I look forward to supporting our staff through a period of change and working with the community so they can provide the very best care and health outcomes for the people of Orkney.”

Davie Campbell, interim chairman of the NHS Orkney board, said: “I welcome the appointment of James to NHS Orkney and I am excited to work with him.

“This is a time of considerable change across the organisation but as a whole team, we remain entirely committed to delivering excellent patient care to our community.”

NHSO said it is a legal requirement for every health board in Scotland to have a chief executive.

Because of this, an interim position was agreed with the Scottish Government to ensure this requirement was filled while the full chief executive role goes out to advert and a recruitment process takes place.

Mr Goodyear will take up his post on September 15.