CARA Charles-Barks has been appointed as chief executive officer of three NHS trusts – including Salisbury.

A veteran of 30 years’ nursing experience, she will take over in at the helm of the Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Hospitals Bath Foundation Trust on November 1.

The appointment follows a decision by the Boards of each of the three Trusts earlier this year to establish a group model which they said “will deliver better outcomes for the population we serve”.

Previously, Cara has worked in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire system for eight years, having been chief executive at Salisbury and the RUH.

“I am delighted to have been appointed Joint Chief Executive Officer of the three Trusts in Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire at this pivotal moment in the NHS’ history,” she said.

“As three Trusts we now have the opportunity to learn together, to tackle inequalities in access to services, to work together to remove barriers to good health and provide improved health outcomes for all our communities.”

Chief Executive of the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board, Sue Harriman, said: “Cara’s appointment is excellent news for our three hardworking acute hospitals and our wider health and care system.

“True collaboration adds real value to patient care and all three hospital trusts have a unique role to play in strengthening the support that local people and communities count on at every stage of their lives.

“Under Cara’s expert leadership, our hospitals will be stronger together and I look forward to seeing the benefits of these new arrangements over the coming years.”

Cara qualified as a Registered Nurse in 1990 in Australia and has 30 years’ experience in the public and private health care sector.

She has been named one of the NHS’s top 50 chief executives five times.

Her efforts during the Novichok poisoning incident, when she was at the Salisbury trust, saw her receive an MBE as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

In June 2019, she was appointed Honorary Colonel of 243 Multi-role Medical Regiment, part of the Army Medical Services.