The first chief executive to move to the government's Total Place pilot programme has been announced.
At the end of this month, Mike Attwood will leave his present job as joint chief executive of NHS Coventry to become programme director for the Total Place programme in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire, one of 13 pilot sites in the UK. He will remain employed by the NHS, but will be based in Coventry's city hall and will be paid by the three local authorities, with additional funding from the Total Place pilot programme.
"Most of the other programme directors have a different background," said Attwood. "I'm the only serving chief executive who has bounced across to the other side of the table." Attwood, a lifelong NHS manager, said Total Place is "a highly creative way to to give organisations the headspace to work together".
Attwood's appointment is being seen as a sign of how seriously the Total Place pilots are being taken. "Stepping out from the role of day to day cxhief executive and letting go of that positional power to move to a position of influence, is a very serious signal," said Attwood, who will report in to Martin Reeves, chief executive of Coventry city council. "I've been involved in services in community settings and we are increasingly dealing with complex issues that cross more than just the boundaries of health and social care. It is clear that we have got to completely rethink how we provide services."
It will be a challenge to move to a role of influencing, rather than directing services, acknowledged Attwood, who will also have to deal with the different needs of the three local authorities involved. The focus of the Total Place pilot in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire is on services for children and young people, including those not in education, employment or training, child health, bullying and looking at how teachers are recruited
