GRIMSBY'S hospital boss Karen Jackson has come under renewed pressure to relinquish her position, after councillors passed a motion calling on her to resign with immediate effect.
The strongly-worded motion, which was put forward by two Labour councillors at Thursday night's full council meeting, condemned the leadership of the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG) and also urged the chairman Dr James Whittingham to consider his position.
One opposition councillor described the move as a "witch hunt" while others argued that removing the chief executive now would be premature and leave the trust like a "rudderless ship".
The Conservatives put forward an amendment proposing that Mrs Jackson be given more time to prove herself, but this was defeated by members of the ruling Labour group, who claimed she had already been given long enough.
Following the meeting, NLAG issued a statement saying that acting upon the council's motion would succeed only in destabilising a trust that was now "demonstrating significant improvement."
The motion, which was proposed by Peter Wheatley (Lab, Yarborough), and Mick Burnett (Lab, Croft Baker), focused on the findings of the Keogh Review, which resulted in the trust being placed in special measures in July.
It "deplored" the £25,000 pay increase awarded to Mrs Jackson, and criticised the "reluctance" of Dr Whittingham to "acknowledge the failings of the trust".
As well as calling on both the chief executive and the chairman to resign, it also urged a full review of the membership of the trust board, to ensure they have the knowledge, skills and experience required.
Councillor Wheatley, the portfolio holder for health, wellbeing and adult social care, said: "How can the public have confidence in a failing management team which over the years has allowed the Grimsby hospital to fall into special measures who now think they can take the hospital forward in the future. How much confidence can the population of this borough have that if the same team remains in post showing the same incompetency and complacency it has displayed over the past few years will soon allow the hospital to slide back into special measures again."
Dr Whittingham, who made an open invitation to councillors to visit the hospital, said: "While the Keogh team made a number of recommendations for improvement they also identified numerous examples of good practice and they recognised the progress that the Trust has been making."
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