\n Ms Burden, who took on the role in January 2022, will begin her leave on August 1,\u00a0with her temporary replacement, Professor Gordon James, chief executive of NHS Golden Jubilee Hospital, starting immediately.\n<\/p>\n
\n In a statement, the health board said: “NHS Ayrshire and\u00a0Arran can confirm that its chief executive, Claire Burden, will be on a period of extended leave from July 31, 2025.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Professor Gordon James will commence on\u00a0August 1, 2025 as interim chief executive and accountable officer to provide leadership during this period of absence.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n “Gordon has been the chief executive at NHS Golden Jubilee since December 2022 and previously held the role of deputy chief operating officer in NHS Scotland, as well as having significant prior leadership and senior management experience across the NHS and in the private and public sector.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Cover arrangements have been put in place for his responsibilities within NHS Golden Jubilee.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Gordon James will step in as acting chief executive (Image: NHS) NHS Ayrshire and\u00a0Arran would not confirm if Ms Burden would continue to be paid during her leave – or if it would be paying the salaries of two chief executives during that time.\n<\/p>\n
\n The health board\u00a0also refused to reveal the reason for her extended leave.\n<\/p>\n
\n The board added: “We will not\u00a0be making any further comment at this time.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Claire Burden (Image: NHS Ayrshire and Arran) In the wake of the announcement, union leaders\u00a0said NHS Ayrshire and\u00a0Arran needed increased funding and a greater focus on discharge delays.\n<\/p>\n
\n Unison’s Scottish health lead, Matt McLaughlin, said: “This move underlines the scale of the crisis at NHS Ayrshire and Arran. Everyone understands the buck stops with the chief executive, but just changing the name at the top won’t fix the deep-seated problems.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cNHS Ayrshire and Arran is dangerously short-staffed, leaving workers in stressful environments which are unsafe for patients.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cBut this isn’t the only NHS board that’s struggling. The Scottish Government must focus on the widespread problems of discharge delays.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cNHS boards need adequate financial settlements and new measures to improve social care so patients are no longer stuck in hospital beds and can get back home where most want to be.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n “Joint government and council taskforces could be drafted in to make a difference to patient flow, staff wellbeing and financial controls.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cTackling the increased cost of medicines, unacceptable waiting times and delays in primary care, such as GP and addiction services, are also crucial.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cForking out for consultants such as Veridan to cut corners on a regular basis doesn’t address the central issues in the health service.\n<\/p>\n
\n “NHS Ayrshire and Arran needs increased funds and government support.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ms Burden, who took on the role in January 2022, will begin her leave on August 1,\u00a0with her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[105,4348,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-309225","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114953481342802201","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}