Interim chief executive announcement
A message from Julie Houlder, Chair.
Dear all,
Last month we made the decision, as a Board, to appoint an interim chief executive from the existing executive team to lead us through the next phase of our organisation’s journey. After a thorough and robust process, I’m pleased to share the exciting news that Jim Austin has been appointed to the position.
Many of you will already be familiar with Jim who’s been with DCHS since 2015 and an integral part of the executive team. Jim is also an established leader across the system, currently holding a dual role as chief information and transformation officer for DCHS and a similar role in the Integrated Care Board (ICB). Over the next few months, he will continue to work closely with Tracy before officially taking over when she steps down in September. At the same time, Jim will relinquish his current duties with the ICB. We’ll also need to consider his existing leadership portfolio in DCHS and agree a plan so that can be seamlessly transferred in the coming months. Our existing deputy chief executive and chief people officer, Darren Tidmarsh, decided not to apply at this time for personal reasons. Both he and Jim have long been part of our succession plan for Tracy’s departure, and Darren remains deputy and fully committed to DCHS.
Jim brings with him a deep understanding of DCHS, our DCHS Way values, and he’ll be supported by our strong and experienced executive team. His dedication to fostering a collaborative and inclusive work environment has been instrumental to our success, and his appointment will give us the necessary stability and continuity during a very challenging period for DCHS and the wider system. It will ensure the culture we’ve developed is not lost, and our ‘DCHS Way’ remains the heartbeat of this organisation.
The appointment will take us to April 2026, and we expect to conduct a full recruitment exercise later in 2025 to be able to appoint to the role substantively from April 2026.
Thank you to the colleagues who supported the process.
Best wishes,
Julie
Julie Houlder - Chair
Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust