The head of Teignbridge NHS Primary Care Trust, chief executive Pam Smith, has been selected to oversee the biggest shake up in the county's health care for years. She has been asked to co-ordinate the merger of her own trust with the other five serving Devon after the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, announced the reconfiguration on May 16. The new Devon PCT will be responsible for a range of essential health services such as community hospitals and it will replace the existing set up on October 1. No changes are planned for patient care in the Teignbridge area, but it is understood that although nurses and health professionals will transfer to the new organisation, the long-term future of some administration staff is uncertain. One insider told this newspaper that many were worried for their jobs as they expected a greatly slimmed down organisation which would be controlled from a central base at a location yet to be decided. Mrs Smith told a Teignbridge PCT board meeting on Wednesday that the first meeting of the new transitional board would take place next Friday and that the new chief executive could be selected and appointed by August. She said great care would be needed to ensure the process went smoothly and didn't affect patients. 'We have got to make sure we bring together the working of the six PCTs and not lose any of the good work going on around the patch,' she said. She announced it was 'very pleasing' to learn that the new countywide trust would retain a management structure to oversee health care at a more localised level. 'There is a very firm understanding that there is a need for local support below Devon,' she said. Speaking on behalf of the Patients' Forum, Byron Carnell asked Mrs Smith to ensure that patients were kept informed and that their voices were heard during the transitional period. Mrs Smith agreed and said: 'We must start a process of getting people working together.' Acting chairman of the Teignbridge trust, Tom Grady, congratulated Mrs Smith on her appointment and said if anyone could lead in an exemplary way, it was her.
