University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust | Brendan Davies

In April 2021, Western Sussex Hospitals and Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals merged to form University Hospitals Sussex (UHSx). It is now one of the largest acute Trusts in the UK with its seven hospitals hosting more than 1.8 million outpatient appointments, A&E visits, and surgery cases every year and employ nearly 20,000 staff.

On the back of several successful appointments with UHSx, including but not limited to their Chief Executive, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Information Officer and Director of Informatics and Performance, we were invited to support the Trust find a leader who can confidently operate at this size and scale. The Director of Estates and Facilities was to have overarching responsibility for the Trust’s sites and buildings; environment; hotel services and functions. It was an exceptionally senior role involving close collaborative relationships with the Executive and Board members. The challenge was to attract a shortlist of those comfortable operating at this size and scale alongside the geographic challenge to be willing to work on site most of the week.  

After an extensive search drawing upon our well-connected network within the Estates and Facilities space, we shortlisted four senior Directors for the role who intimately understood the challenges of the NHS, particularly in the space of bringing organisations together.

The appointed candidate, Trevor Fitzgerald, has excelled since his appointment. In July this year, the VSM Director of Capital Development and Property, Rob Cairney, announced his retirement and UHSx asked if we could support them again. We are in the process to appoint his successor, and four final interviews are scheduled for candidates who have been attracted from the health, education and construction sectors.