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Senior appointments drive quality at Spire Washington Hospital

Two senior managers have been promoted to key roles to further drive patient care and quality at one of the North East’s leading private hospitals.

Spire Washington Hospital has appointed Shelagh Alderson as its new hospital director and Andrew Johnson as the new head of clinical services. The longstanding members of staff beat stiff outside competition for the appointments at the hospital, which is part of the 37-strong Spire Healthcare Group.

Shelagh, a qualified physiotherapist, has worked at Spire Washington Hospital near Chester-le-Street for almost two decades. She was appointed as hospital director following three years as head of clinical and non-clinical services. She is now responsible for overall clinical strategy to ensure the highest standards of healthcare, as well as overseeing the financial and business performance of the hospital.

Initially joining Washington Hospital on a part-time basis in 1994, Shelagh was appointed as physiotherapy manager in 1997, para-medical services manager a year later and took on the post of head of clinical services in 2009.

She said: “My new role is both challenging and exciting as it requires a continued focus on service improvement - setting and maintaining clinical practice standards within a Governance and Regulatory framework. If we can maintain the high patient and consultant satisfaction levels we have at present, I’ll know I’m doing a good job.

“I’m inspired by the patients that we see here who are in pain and maintain a very positive attitude and outlook on life. It’s amazing to see how they make the most of every day – it’s very inspirational and we can learn a lot from it. It has certainly taught me to grab with both hands every opportunity that I get.”

Andrew Johnson steps into Shelagh’s former role as head of clinical services from his previous position as Spire Washington’s theatre manager. Already a member of the senior management team, perioperative specialist Andrew is now responsible for leading the hospital’s overall clinical strategy, providing a quality service to patients and deputising for the hospital director when necessary.

Having joined the hospital in 2008 after three years with an NHS Trust, Andrew worked his way up from perioperative practitioner, to anaesthetic team leader then theatre manager, gaining valuable experience in people management and implementing the latest professional standards to improve patient care.

Andrew said: “Spire Washington Hospital is an excellent place to work, led by a management team focused on ethics, standards and continuous professional development.

“I’m delighted to take the next step in my career and as head of clinical services, I’ll be concentrating on quality patient care and standards.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Astute.Work .