Hospitals A&E merger guru quits

A KEY figure in the project to close the QE2 Hospital's A&E department has quit – just four months into the job. Noel Scanlon had been appointed director of clinical reconfiguration and design at the East and North Herts NHS Trust at the end of September

A KEY figure in the project to close the QE2 Hospital's A&E department has quit - just four months into the job.

Noel Scanlon had been appointed director of clinical reconfiguration and design at the East and North Herts NHS Trust at the end of September last year.

Previously, he was the trust's director of nursing since 2002.

His new job intended to provide "clear and dedicated clinical leadership" in the move to centralise A&E services at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage.

But on Monday last week, Mr Scanlon took up a post as deputy chief executive at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn.

A trust spokesman said there was "nothing untoward" about Mr Scanlon's decision to move on - and that Mr Scanlon was furthering his career.