A health chief who has overseen big improvements in hospital services for patients in Huddersfield has been drafted in to run a troubled health trust in another part of West Yorkshire.
Brendan Brown, who has been chief executive at Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) since 2021, has been seconded to the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Mr Brown replaced CEO Prof Phil Wood on an interim basis on the day it was announced that the Leeds trust was one of 14 being investigated by the Government over its maternity services.
Last year the trust came under scrutiny over elective surgery and cancer performance and was moved into the highest level of oversight by NHS England.
Prof Wood had been due to retire at the end of the year after three decades in the NHS but agreed to leave early.
It is understood Mr Brown will fill the role on a temporary basis until a permanent new chief executive is appointed, which could take up to a year.
It’s not known whether Mr Brown will be a candidate for the Leeds job but CHFT has been making national headlines for all the right reasons.
Huddersfield Royal Infirmary was hailed as a national example for successfully slashing patient waiting lists. It went from having one of the longest in the country to one of the shortest.
At the end of 2021 there were over 4,000 people waiting longer than 52 weeks for treatment but by 2025 it was less than 20.
This success was attributed to initiatives like weekend operating lists, improved patient tracking and innovative uses of artificial intelligence to speed up scan analysis.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting hailed the trust as an example of good practice.
Huddersfield MP Harpreet Uppal praises ‘incredible success’ of HRI in slashing patient waiting lists
In Mr Brown’s absence Rob Aitchison has been confirmed as interim chief executive. Mr Aitchison has been deputy chief executive at CHFT since November 2022 and worked at the trust for 10 years between 2009 and 2019.
Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital are currently undergoing a major reconfiguration of services with new developments underway. The new £15 million A&E at HRI was opened in May 2024.
Once the reconfiguration – called Foundations for our Future – is completed, ‘planned care’ will take place at HRI with ‘unplanned care’ at the Halifax hospital.
Mr Aitchison (below) said: “Brendan’s fantastic leadership over the last few years has taken CHFT to a strong place.
“We are consistently delivering for our patients and are in the top performing trusts for planned care, A&E and cancer performance. This is due to the commitment and dedication of all our colleagues.
“We are making huge strides in our vision to deliver care closer to home, there’s significant work happening to improve care and experience across the trust and we will be celebrating some major milestones in our Foundations for our Future programme.
“I look forward to leading us through the exciting year ahead.”
CHFT has also teamed up with the University of Huddersfield to open a Community Diagnostic Centre in the Emily Siddon Building on the National Health Innovation Campus.
From January 2026 the centre will offer patients access to a wide range of diagnostic tests, including MRIs and CT scans, out of hospital and closer to home.
It is the first centre of its kind to be established on a UK university campus. A temporary centre, offering limited diagnostics, has already opened in the Daphne Steele Building next door.
Countdown is on to the opening of new Community Diagnostic Centre at the Emily Siddon Building
