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A new man yesterday took over as boss of Coventry's Walsgrave Hospital and declared the start of a new era.
For the first time in almost two decades there's a new chief executive and David Roberts said he was looking forward to putting the hospital's trouble behind it.
The former boss at Birmingham City Hospital said he is looking forward to driving through an agenda for change in Coventry and Rugby focusing on respect for both patients and staff.
Part of his first day was spent on an induction tour of Walsgrave as part of a batch of newcomers. He also met with some senior doctors who were keen to speak to him.
Mr Roberts, aged 37, said: "I think everyone is seeing today as a new era for the trust. It's about putting all the other stuff behind us.
"I'm going to be spending a lot of time with staff and start to build a new way of working for the organisation founded on respect and the desire to see patients treated in the way they should be treated.
"I've got a lot to do in terms of learning about all kinds of issues and I shall be focusing on getting to know people.
"The performance of the trust is of key importance and I want to get to grips with how we are doing, the speed at which we are treating people and with making sure we are in financial balance and the new hospital project is coming together as it should."
Mr Roberts, married to midwife Alison with three children, is adamant that patient care is his first priority.
He wants to rebuild patient confidence, developing services around the needs of patients and talking to them more.
He is aware that he will inherit baggage, notably surrounding the suspensions of cardiologist Raj Mattu and breast surgeon, Briony Ackroyd.
"Everything is up for scrutiny and review, as it should be with someone coming in" said Mr Roberts. "Anything I do will be based on my judge-ment and my assessment. I will look at everything and reassure myself that things are appropriate and have been handled appropriately."
Mr Roberts said he is eager to stress patient care not public rows.
