Bereaved families raise alarm about trust’s leadership churn

Bereaved parents have raised concerns about the departure of a major trust’s medical director, just as an independent inquiry into its maternity services is getting started.

Magnus Harrison left Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust on 12 June, with the trust’s deputy medical director, Elizabeth Garthwaite, appointed interim.

His departure comes amid several high-profile executives leaving the trust over the past year, including its chief executive and deputy CEO.

The trust is facing a major inquiry into care failures in its maternity and neonatal services between 2011 and 2025, led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden.

In a statement, the Leeds affected families group said: “Since [the inquiry]’s announcement, several of the people who were in leadership positions at the trust during the period under investigation will no longer be present to engage in the same way.

“It’s very disconcerting that senior figures are leaving their roles without ever being properly held to account…

“We are also concerned how all the necessary information for the review will be disclosed, and how changes in leadership could potentially cause some evidence to get lost or former senior leaders to state they ‘cannot remember’ or ‘no longer have access to documents or files’.”

They added: “These departures risk creating a precedent that senior leaders can leave a trust… before their involvement in cultures and practices have been fully scrutinised.”

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Source: HSJ, 15 June 2026