Why has NHS Trust Chief Executive suddenly left his job?

Martin Shipton

A campaign group has called for a full explanation about the abrupt departure of a health trust’s high-flying Chief Executive.

Before this week there had been no hint that David Donegan was about to leave his role as CEO at Velindre University NHS Trust in Cardiff.

As recently as November 10 he attended the Scottish Cancer Conference in Glasgow, posting to LinkedIn a message that said: “Grateful for the invite from Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and Ian Walker [the charity’s executive director of policy, information and communications] to attend the Scottish Cancer Conference today in Glasgow and learn from others, including Norway about the great work being done around the world to improve cancer outcomes & services.”

The near-£1bn project to build a new Velindre cancer centre has been marred by a series of controversies including the decision to build it as a stand-alone centre rather than adjacent to a general hospital, the consequent destruction of a much-loved green space called the Northern Meadows and concerns about the construction, not least the fact that two of the companies involved in the consortium that won the contract had criminal convictions for bid-rigging in their home countries.

But when he was appointed to the CEO role in late 2024, he was seen as the perfect leader to take the project to completion and beyond.

A press release put out at the time of his appointment said: “Velindre University NHS Trust is delighted to announce that Mr David Donegan has been appointed as our new substantive Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

“David is currently the CEO of Cork University Hospitals Group, which includes the largest tertiary teaching hospital in the Irish Health System (CUH), a number of district general hospitals and a range of community clinics and facilities. David has successfully delivered improved clinical and operational performance, infrastructure, governance and leadership at CUH Group and has also led on the delivery of a number of national programmes in the south west of Ireland, including the National Trauma Strategy and the National Cancer Control Programme.

“While originally from Ireland, he has spent most of his career in the NHS, including over a decade in board level positions in strategic health authorities, acute hospitals, and ambulance services in England. He has also worked as the Interim Director of Secondary Care for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in Wales.

“David is a clinician by background and is a passionate advocate of clinical leadership and advanced practice. He has a number of degrees, including an Executive MBA from Warwick Business School and is a graduate of the NHS Leadership Academy and UCL Senior Leaders Programme.

“David is married to Nuala, who was born in Birmingham, and is a Director at Kantar Worldpanel.

“Trust Chair, Professor Donna Mead OBE said ‘We are delighted that David has agreed to join us at Velindre after a robust and highly competitive recruitment process. He has a passion and ambition for Velindre and he connects strongly with our mission of being world class in our clinical and academic endeavours. David brings with him a wealth of relevant international experience in both blood and cancer services and we all look forward to welcoming him to the Trust.’

‘Honoured’

Mr Donegan himself said: “I am honoured to have been chosen to lead the team at Velindre and excited to support our team to realise their full potential and deliver on our ambitious and shared vision for the future. When I visited the Welsh Blood Service recently, the warm welcome I received reminded me of my teenage years when I worked as a volunteer with the Red Cross supporting donors and staff with collections. When I visited the Velindre Cancer Centre and was taken through the designs for the new VCC, I got a real sense of the important outcomes we will deliver for the people of south east Wales over the next 5-10 years. I really look forward to meeting with staff, donors, patients and partners over the coming months.”

The press release concluded: “David hopes to join the Trust by the start of December.”

Earlier this week Nation.Cymru was tipped off that Mr Donegan had abruptly left his post. On Wednesday November 19 we emailed the Trust’s press office asking whether the tip-off was accurate. Having had no reply, we chased the press office up on Friday November 21, stating that we would be running a “mystery surrounds” story unless we received an answer.

Subsequently a statement was posted to the Trust’s website that said: “Carl James has taken up the role of interim Chief Executive of Velindre University NHS Trust following David Donegan’s departure from the role. We thank David for his contribution during his time with the Trust.

“Dr Jacinta Abraham, the Trust’s Medical Director, will become the Deputy Chief Executive. Both have previous experience of undertaking these roles within the Trust.

“The Trust is committed to an ambitious programme of transformation and improvement, with the needs of our patients and donors at the centre of everything we do. We deeply value and appreciate the ongoing dedication and commitment of all our colleagues throughout the organisation, whose efforts are vital to our continued success.”

We asked a series of questions aimed at clarifying the reasons behind Mr Donegan’s departure, but received no response.

‘Shocked’

A spokesperson for the campaign group Save the Northern Meadows said: “We are shocked by this sudden and unexplained departure of the Chief Executive of Velindre Trust within a year of his appointment. A significant sum of public money will have been spent on the recruitment process, and Velindre Trust must explain what has gone wrong here. There are many questions for Velindre Trust to answer, for example has a financial payment been made to the departing Chief Executive and is there a non-disclosure agreement in place?

“The loss of the Chief Executive raises further questions about the capabilities of the senior management at Velindre Trust, who were also responsible for the hugely controversial decision to build the new Velindre Cancer Centre three miles away from the nearest Intensive Care and Surgical Units, against the advice of many Cancer Care specialists.

“The inevitable disruption caused by this sudden departure will have been even more difficult to cope with as the current Chair of Velindre Trust has only been in post for three months.

“We have long argued that Velindre Trust would be better managed as part of Cardiff and Vale University Hospital Board. Recent events only serve to confirm that the Welsh Government must give this serious consideration.”