Leeds NHS chief awarded MBE from The Queen for management during Covid pandemic

The award recognises the work of Chris Slater and his team to ensure personal protective equipment (PPE) and other healthcare essentials were procured and supplied to staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The announcement was made by Buckingham Palace on Wednesday June 1 as part of Her Majesty The Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

As part of his work during the pandemic, Chris managed the procurement and supply of essential PPE and supplies to support frontline NHS staff and patients at LTHT as well as at the NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber in Harrogate.

Chris, who has worked at the Trust for 18 years, felt honoured to receive the award but was keen to point out the significant contributions of his team.

He said it was an "incredible honour" to be nominated for the MBE - something he was "not expecting".

"Managing the supply chain throughout the Covid pandemic, including the provision of PPE and equipping the NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber, was an absolute team effort that required commitment from so many dedicated people", he added.

"I am delighted that the team’s efforts in supporting frontline staff at LTHT has been recognised.”

Julian Hartley, Chief Executive at LTHT, said: “Throughout the pandemic, Chris has demonstrated enormous personal commitment and leadership to ensure the continued safety of staff and patients in our hospitals. It is a true tribute to the diligence and expertise of his team that at no point during the pandemic was vital safety equipment unavailable to our staff.”

During the pandemic, Chris’s team provided more than 2 million surgical face masks, 300,000 FFP3 respirators, more than 2 million plastic aprons, 30,000 pairs of goggles, 50,000 visors, and 5.2 million surgical gloves. At Leeds, which has over 20,000 staff, 5,500 patients have been treated for Covid-19 since March 2020.

Chris added: “Keeping our staff and patients safe during the pandemic was our principle aim. Being very aware of the frontline pressures empowered the team to overcome challenges not previously encountered. I am very proud to have led such a dedicated team during unprecedented times, everyone who played their part should feel they contributed and deserve a stake in this award.”

Whilst securing PPE for the Leeds Hospitals Trust was key during this time, Chris and his team were also seconded to lead procurement and supply of medical equipment to create the 500-bedded NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber.

In just four weeks, the team transformed Harrogate convention centre into a fully commissioned hospital.

During the national shortage of PPE stock in 2020, Chris and his team supported local firms to develop their capacity and capability to design and manufacture PPE equipment to NHS specifications in order to increase resilience at LTHT.

As the pandemic developed, LTHT became one of the few NHS hospital trusts allowed to purchase PPE independently.

Chris’s team sourced effective contracts in China and Turkey to ensure continuing supply of high-quality equipment.

The team also led a West Yorkshire-wide collaborative project to assure supplies worth in excess of £10m.

Dame Linda Pollard DBE DL Hon LLD, Chairman of LTHT, said: “Despite a family bereavement and even whilst his son, an NHS doctor, was sick with Covid, Chris’s commitment to our staff and patients was unwavering, working 10-hour days, seven days a week, making hundreds of decisions each day under tremendous pressure. We have so much to be thankful to Chris and his team at LTHT, and this MBE is wholly deserved.”