Chief executive of Wigan's hospitals steps down to join neighbouring NHS trust

Silas Nicholls will become the chief executive at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LTH), which runs Royal Preston and Chorley and South Ribble hospitals, early next year.

Currently in the same role at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Mr Nicholls will replace Kevin McGee, who left LTH last week after two years in post to become a health boss in Gibraltar.

Mr Nicholls's appointment comes as the search narrows for a site to build a replacement Royal Preston, a facility that will be developed over the next decade.

He said he was “absolutely delighted” to have been appointed as the chief executive of the largest NHS acute trust in Lancashire.

“The trust plays a pivotal role in the local health and care system and I’m determined to ensure the opportunities presented by the New Hospitals Programme help to future-proof services for communities across Lancashire and South Cumbria for generations to come,” he added.

LTH said the appointment came after "a thorough recruitment process involving multiple stakeholders from across the trust and the wider health and care system, at both local and regional level".

Mr Nicholls – whose starting date at LTH is yet to be confirmed – currently also chairs the North West Leadership Academy and is co-chairman of the System Operational Response Taskforce for Greater Manchester.

His first chief executive post was at University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust in 2016 and, more recently, he was in the hot seat at Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust until joining Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh in October 2019.

It has not yet been announced who will replace him as chief executive at WWL.

LTH chairman Peter White said: “Silas is a very experienced and respected NHS leader who has held a range of senior executive and CEO positions across the North West for a number of years.

“Being a major trauma centre and tertiary provider of services for the system, this is a fantastic opportunity to shape the future landscape of healthcare provision for the communities we serve and I am absolutely confident that Silas will help us to achieve this.”