Two West Sussex Public Health directors resign

Anna Raleigh will not return to West Sussex from maternity leave while her interim successor Stephen Horsley has also resigned

Dr Tony Hill will step into the post on a temporary basis from October 21.

He replaces Stephen Horsley, who was also appointed on a temporary basis while the previous director, Anna Raleigh, was on maternity leave.

Now both Ms Raleigh and Mr Horsley have quit and it is expected to take up to six months to find a permanent replacement.

Not having a permanent director in place during a pandemic was described as ‘extremely worrying’ by Dr James Walsh, leader of the Liberal Democrats, who added that Ms Raleigh had been an ‘exceptionally good’ director.

He added: “The public need reassurance that, in the current emergency situation, any interim appointee will not only have the appropriate qualifications, but the skill and expertise to help protect our population from the expected upsurge in the virus.”

A council spokesman said Dr Hill had ‘a wealth of experience having previously been the director of public health in Lincolnshire’ .

His LinkedIn profile shows that he left that role in 2016, working as an independent public health consultant and health strategist ever since.

He was made an MBE in 2017.

The spokesman added: “We have already begun our search and we are confident that we will have someone suitable in place within the next six months, subject to market conditions.”