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Nurse troubleshooter Julie Moore tipped to take over at troubled Heart of England trust

Julie Moore is Monitor's choice to tackle problems at one of England's largest foundation trusts

A nurse with a track record for troubleshooting has been picked by health regulator Monitor to tackle problems at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust.

The healthcare regulator wants Julie Moore to be appointed interim chief executive of the trust, which serves 1.2 million people living in Birmingham, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield and south Staffordshire.

Heart of England has been subject to regulatory action over performance and management problems. Earlier this month Monitor set up an investigation into why the trust had run up a £23.9 million deficit in the past five months. The investigation concluded the trust is in breach of its NHS licence.

Dame Julie is currently chief executive of neighbouring University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), having been appointed in 2006. She worked in clinical practice before moving into management and in 2013 was asked to lead improvements at George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton and Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust after both were placed into special measures. She was made a dame in 2012.

A year later, the nurse was made honorary chair of Warwick University and included in BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour list of the 100 most powerful women in the UK. She currently works alongside UHB chair and former Labour home secretary Jacqui Smith, whom Monitor hopes will take over as interim chair at Heart of England.

Monitor's proposal is now with the Heart of England board and is expected to secure final approval later this week.