THE ‘INSPIRING’ boss of Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust (CWPT) has stepped down after ten years in the role.
Professor Jagtar Singh OBE has resigned as Chair of the organisation – leaving behind what colleagues have described as a ‘distinguished’ legacy.
Professor Singh was appointed as CWPT’s Chair in September 2014, having previously held numerous roles in the NHS and Fire Service and been a trustee of several charities.
At CWPT, he introduced an inclusive leaders’ model that has seen several improvements in CWPT’s Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES), Staff Survey results, gender pay gap and CQC ratings.
Under his stewardship, CWPT played a vital role in delivering vaccinations during the pandemic and helped administer more than two-and-a-half million vaccines across the region.
Professor Singh has passionately advocated for the development of CWPT’s research capability and ambition to gain University Trust status, outlined in CWPT’s 2022 People at our Heart Strategy.
He was instrumental in driving forward CWPT’s equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) agenda and CWPT has been selected year on year to be a partner in the NHS Diversity Partners Programme.
Mel Coombes MBE, CWPT’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “I would like to extend my personal thanks to Professor Singh on behalf of everyone at the Trust, for his distinguished service over the 10 years of his tenure.
“Jagtar has brought about a clear focus on delivering culturally competent care, reducing health inequalities, and introducing an inclusive leaders’ model that has seen several improvements to the Trust over this time. We wish Jagtar all the best for the future.”
CWPT Vice-Chair Dianne Whitfield – who will be acting Chair at the Trust while NHS England undertake a recruitment process – added: “Since I joined CWPT, Jagtar has completely changed the conversation and priority around the equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) agenda at the Trust.
“He’s relentless in what he does, and his passion, compassion, and inspiring leadership have been critical in ensuring EDI is at the heart of everything we do.”
