A KEY healthcare leader has been appointed as the accountable officer for Herefordshire.

Simon Hairsnape, has been appointed as Chief Officer / Accountable Officer for Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) until April 2017.

Previously he was Chief Officer of NHS Redditch and Bromsgrove CCG and NHS Wyre Forest CCG, which he left to join Herefordshire CCG on secondment.

He said: “It was never going to be an easy decision to leave the CCGs but I felt it was the right time to take on the new challenge.

"I am very pleased with everything that we have achieved since the CCGs formed three years ago and it has been a privilege to serve the local population. I have enjoyed working with the GPs and thank them for their significant contribution to commissioning.

“I have a background in Herefordshire and live locally so it made the decision a little easier.”

Simon was appointed as the CCG Chief Officer in January 2013 after holding the post of Director of Delivery / Managing Director of NHS Worcestershire- during an eight year career as a key health leader in Worcestershire.

Dr Simon Rumley, Clinical Chair of NHS Wyre Forest CCG said: "His experience and diplomacy has been invaluable in setting up the thriving successful CCG we now have.

"No one has worked harder than Simon in trying to solve the complex problems facing the Worcestershire health economy in the last four years and an eventual solution will be no small part down to his endeavours. He will be greatly missed.”