Published: 9 December, 2013
by TOM FOOT

THE former leader of Islington Council, Steve Hitchins, has been appointed as the new chairman of the Whittington Hospital.

Mr Hitchens, a Liberal Democrat who led Islington for four years until 2006, replaces Joe Liddane who stepped down in August to support his family in Ireland.

The two-year, two-days-a-week contract, starting on January 1, is worth £21,105.

Mr Hitchins said: “There are challenges ahead but I am excited about the prospect of working with the Board, all of Whittington's staff and our many partners to address these. Now, more than ever, the patient comes first and I will carry that with me in this job."

Mr Hitchins is a commissioner at the Care Quality Commission and on the board of a Newlon Housing Trust. He was a former vice-chairman of the Islington Primary Care Trust. He has run a manufacturing company and was a former board member of the London Development Agency, working on Olympic sites.

In 2006, Mr Hitchins was cleared of accusations of political cronyism following a case that lasted three and a half years and cost more than £1 million.

The Standards Board tribunal ruled that there had been no breaches of the local government code over the appointment in 2002 of the council's chief executive, Helen Bailey, a former aide to the Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy. The accusations were made by Mary Creagh, then leader of the Islington Labour group, who is now an MP and shadow transport minister.

Mr Hitchins was appointed by the NHS Trust Development Authority, which took over control of board level appointments in April.

Whittington Health chief executive Dr Yi Mien Koh said: “Steve's background and experience will be real assets to the Trust.”