NHS Trust appoints new executive medical director

Dr Rushmer has worked as a consultant at Northumbria Healthcare for over 18 years and will take up his new medical director post with immediate effect, providing expert clinical leadership for the organisation and advising the trust board on all aspects of patient safety, quality of care and clinical strategy.

Jeremy is a practising consultant in intensive care medicine and anaesthesia and will continue to care for seriously ill patients at the new Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington where he has also been site medical director since September 2015.

During his time at Northumbria, Dr Rushmer has been at the forefront of delivering high quality clinical care for patients. He was one of the many doctors who, some ten years ago, pioneered the original thinking behind the revolutionary new model of emergency care now in place at the trust which is delivering much improved outcomes for patients across Northumberland and North Tyneside.

Between 2012 and 2015 Jeremy spent time as medical director at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust where he successfully led vital quality improvements, resulting in safer and more effective care for patients and a substantial reduction in the trust’s mortality rate which was previously one of the highest in England.

Dr Rushmer said: “I am delighted to take up this role and immensely proud of the work which has taken place over many years at Northumbria to embed a culture of continuous quality improvement and clinical leadership.

“This is a very exciting time for our organisation and for all of our staff as we lead a number of projects which are part of the national vision for the future of the NHS and which will set the future standards for high quality patient care.

“I look forward to working with colleagues across the organisation, as well as with our governors and the local people we serve, as we continue to put our patients’ safety and wellbeing at the very heart of everything we do.”

Mr David Evans, chief executive of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Jeremy’s track record of strong clinical leadership speaks for itself and I am very pleased to welcome him into his new medical director role. His commitment to delivering high quality patient care during his time at Northumbria and most recently at North Cumbria, has been truly inspiring and has resulted in many positive improvements for the benefit of patient care.

“I look forward to working with Jeremy and the board of directors as we now move into an exciting new chapter for Northumbria Healthcare and build on the strong foundations we’ve put in place over many years to ensure that our patients are the heart of every decision we make.”