Appointment of our new Chief Operating Officer

Dear colleagues

I am very pleased to confirm that following a competitive recruitment process we have appointed Arun Chandran as our new Chief Operating Officer.

Arun is currently the Divisional Director of Operations at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and will join us in the autu​mn.

Arun began his NHS career as a nurse and has held a variety of leadership roles in NHS trusts including London North West Healthcare Trusts, Royal Surrey Country NHS Foundation Trust and Gloucestershire Hospitals.

Arun has asked us to share the following message with governors and staff.

“I am delighted to be joining Torbay and South Devon and looking forward to working with the Board, our teams and our colleagues to deliver better health and care for our communities.

“I’m really passionate about addressing health inequalities and also focused on high-quality patient care and supporting and developing colleagues and teams.

“I am keen to take forward the good work already started by teams across the trust in transforming services and to play my part in supporting the wider health and care system as we make further improvements in safety, quality, financial sustainability, integrated working and performance, and access to our services for people across Devon and Cornwall.

“On a personal note, my wife and I very much look forward to enjoying the lifestyle benefits of living in Devon and what it has to offer.”

I am delighted that Arun has chosen to join us this autumn. He brings a passion for equality and inclusion which aligns with our compassionate leadership framework and our vision to deliver better health and care for all.

Arun’s input will be key to further developing our care model and transforming our clinical services so that they meet the needs of our communities now and in the future.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our interim Chief Operating Officer Jon Scott for his leadership and continued support.

The role of the Chief Operating Officer is critical to ensuring consistent quality care for patients. Chief Operating Officers combine broad operational knowledge with strategic planning.

With kind regards

Liz Davenport

Chief Executive