A CHIEF executive has now been appointed to the helm of a new NHS trust.

Sarah Dugan, chief executive of NHS Dudley, has been appointed to lead the new Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, which will manage mental health services and the county’s five community hospitals.

The appointment was announced on Tuesday by NHS Worcestershire, which holds the purse strings for county healthcare, and Mrs Dugan is expected to take up her post early in March.

She joined Dudley Primary Care Trust in 2006 as director of strategy and innovation and executive nurse and has been chief executive since January last year.

Mrs Dugan had worked in Worcestershire at Wyre Forest Primary Care Trust for four years before she went to Dudley.

Mrs Dugan said: “For those of you who do not know me, I have a nursing background and have worked in a wide range of managerial positions in both PCTs and mental health trusts over the years. I am really looking forward to getting started and working with staff, patients, service users and partners to see how we can continue to improve services.”

Chairman of the new trust Chris Burdon, who was appointed earlier this month, said: “Her broad range of experience, knowledge and skills that she has acquired throughout her career will be a huge asset to the new trust in ensuring we deliver the best quality of care to the patients we serve.”