{"id":646072,"date":"2026-06-18T21:49:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/646072\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T21:49:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:49:07","slug":"boss-at-troubled-norfolk-hospital-trust-steps-down-after-just-five-months-in-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/646072\/","title":{"rendered":"Boss at troubled Norfolk hospital trust steps down after just five months in role"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The managing director of a hospital that was ranked the country\u2019s worst in a league table last year is stepping down after spending just five months in the job.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Michelle Arrowsmith joined the <a class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" data-testid=\"next-link-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/anglia\/2025-12-18\/surgery-failings-at-englands-worst-hospital-highlighted-in-report\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King&#8217;s Lynn in Norfolk<\/a> in January, saying she wanted to help improve local healthcare services and deliver high-quality care for patients.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">However, hospital leaders have confirmed she will leave next week, in a move bosses acknowledged could &#8220;raise understandable questions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">No reason has been given for Ms Arrowsmith\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">She will be replaced by Jo Segasby, who is currently the deputy chief executive and chief delivery officer of the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Hospital bosses say there will be no impact on patient care.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The West Norfolk hospital was rated the <a class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/watch\/news\/norfolks-queen-elizabeth-hospital-named-worst-in-the-country\/rjwfzgk\" data-testid=\"fecp-link-anchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">worst performing NHS Trust in England<\/a>, out of 134 trusts in September 2025, according to NHS England statistics.<\/p>\n<p>Prof Lesley Dwyer, chief executive of the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group. Credit: ITV News Anglia<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Lesley Dwyer, chief executive of the hospital group, said: \u201cImportantly, there is no change to clinical services, and patient safety and quality of care remain our absolute priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">In a letter shared by North East Cambridgeshire MP and former Health Secretary Steve Barclay, Ms Dwyer said the leadership change comes as the hospital looks to strengthen its recovery plans and continue improving services.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cThe challenges facing The QEH remain, and sustained improvement depends on strong, stable leadership and the right support being in place,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Mr Barclay said he would be meeting hospital leaders to discuss the future of services, particularly at the North Cambridgeshire Hospital in Wisbech.<\/p>\n<p>North East Cambridgeshire MP and former Health Secretary Steve Barclay Credit: PA<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">He said he wanted to continue making the case for more treatments and services to be delivered locally rather than patients having to travel to larger hospitals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The Wisbech site currently provides services including minor injury treatment, physiotherapy, blood tests, palliative care and specialist outpatient clinics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Responding to questions about the change, Ms Dwyer said she understood people may have concerns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cI recognise that changes in leadership can raise understandable questions for patients, staff and the local community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cMy focus is on supporting staff and ensuring that patients continue to receive safe, high-quality care while we continue the recovery work already under way at The QEH.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The managing director of a hospital that was ranked the country\u2019s worst in a league table last year&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-646072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}