A former boss of the NHS in Hull has been appointed to head the organisation running East Yorkshire's two hospitals.
Chris Long, former head of NHS Hull, will take over as chief executive of Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust following the departure of "Superman" boss Phil Morley.Mr Morley quit his £170,000-a-year job in April, weeks before the Care Quality Commission (CQC) revealed staff were struggling to cope with crippling workloads at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham.
Nursing shortages, increasing pressure on staff to meet targets and a culture of bullying were also uncovered by inspectors, forcing the hospital trust to call in conciliation service ACAS.
Staff have just been told of the appointment of Mr Long, who once handed back his NHS bonus to help hard-up medical students, by the trust this morning.
Mr Long said: "I'm looking forward to returning to work in East Yorkshire and I'm excited about the opportunity this role presents to make a positive difference, both to patient care and to the staff who do so much to deliver that care.
"The trust has experienced a number of difficulties lately and the operating environment in which the NHS as a whole finds itself at the moment is very challenging. Having previously worked in Hull for a number of years, I know the hospital staff here do some truly amazing things and that this trust has the potential to move from good to great.
"I'm looking forward to the challenge and the variety this role will bring, and to working together with staff, patients and the public to improve the quality of hospital services delivered locally."
Mr Long has a wealth of experience in NHS organisations and spent seven years as chief executive of Hull Primary Care Trust, which became NHS Hull, between 2006 and 2013.
He was also executive director of operations at the former Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust for four years before arriving in Hull and had spent 12 years in the Army.
He is well-respected in the city and earned plaudits when he and PCT directors waived their bonuses to create a £28,000-a-year bursary helping students at Hull York Medical School pay their tuition fees. At the time, he said it would have been "divisive to fail to recognise the contribution of more junior staff and not in keeping with the PCT's public sector values."
While chief executive of the PCT, Hull became the best performing PCT in the country out of 152 organisations for world-class commissioning in 2010. It also created one of the world's first domestic violence marketing programmes specifically targeted at offenders.
When NHS Hull was disbanded during the major shake-up of the health service, replaced by a number of organisations including Humber Foundation Trust and Hull Clinical Commissioning Group, Mr Long went to work for NHS England's locality team in Yorkshire and the Humber.
Interim trust chairman Keith Hopkins said: "Chris has worked extensively within the health service, during which time he has developed a wealth of skills and experience which we believe makes him the ideal candidate for this important role.
"We are committed to delivering on our vision of Great Staff, Great Care, Great Future, and with a clear focus on delivering effective, patient-centred care, we are confident in Chris's ability to both lead and achieve that."
Mr Long is expected to take up the post of chief executive at the trust in the autumn.
Mr Morley, who appeared in a video dressed as Superman dancing to the tune of Amarillo in an attempt to encourage staff to exercise to reduce stress, is now chief executive of Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in Essex. Today, the Mail reveals £50,000 was spent on his trust credit card during his three-and-a-half years at the helm of the organisation.
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