Royal Cornwall Hospital

At the time of the inspection and over the last few years, there had been a significant and ongoing period of instability at board level. Since the first inspection in January 2014 there had been three chief executives in post, two of those on an interim basis. A permanent chief executive was appointed in April 2016. A new chair was appointed in 2015 and had since stepped down in August 2016, with an interim chair covering whilst awaiting the start date for the newly appointed chair whose position had recently been confirmed. The director of nursing was an interim post at the time of the inspection, having been in post since December 2015, and this post was due to end in April 2017, with plans for recruitment to a permanent post underway. An interim medical director was in post since October 2016 for a period of 6-9 months and this post has been advertised externally. Similarly, the chief operating officer post was interim from October 2016, with this post also being advertised externally. The newly appointed director of human resources commenced in post in December 2016, and the director of corporate affairs commenced in post in January 2017. The director of finance was the longest standing executive member of the team having been in post for six years.