Darren Skinner appointed as Interim Director of Human Resources

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) has appointed Darren Skinner (pictured below) as Interim Director of Human Resources. Darren will start in the Trust from Monday 10 May 2021.

LYPFT’s Chief Executive Dr Sara Munro said: “Our staff are our greatest asset, so having the right executive leadership in place for workforce is critical to our organisational success.

“Therefore I’m delighted to have secured someone as experienced as Darren. He will be leading our Workforce and Organisational Development Team to ensure they have the right support and structures in place, helping our staff through Covid-19 recovery and overseeing the delivery of the LYPFT People Plan – in which staff wellbeing and equality and inclusion continue to be key priorities.

“Darren will be with us for 9-12 months, and will be supporting me and the Board to determine what our longer term workforce leadership requirements are – with a view to making a substantive appointment later this year.

“In the meantime I’m sure you’ll all welcome Darren and help him get up to speed quickly.”

Darren added: “I am really pleased to have been appointed, and I very much look forward to working with you all, and to contribute to the great work that you do every day.

“Everyone has been through a tough year and it is important that we support our staff, and I am proud to be part of a great team to do that.”

More about Darren Skinner

Darren is an experienced senior human resources leader with a wealth of experience working across a range of public sector organisations.

He started his career as a nurse, working in adult intensive care and later in neonatal and paediatric intensive care at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. He was an active and experienced local Royal College of Nursing (RCN) representative and went on to work for the RCN as a Regional Officer, covering healthcare across North London before embarking on his HR career.

As a senior human resources practitioner he worked at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust – leading an employment relations team before going on to work for the City of London Police (ultimately as HR Director) followed by the British Transport Police.

He then worked with the Government of Jersey as an Interim HR Director for the Health and Community Services department, supporting a significant change programme and the development of the ‘Jersey Care Model’, as well as advising the Minister for Health and Social Services on workforce and HR policy related issues.

Before taking up the role at LYPFT, Darren’s most recent assignment was a significant staff engagement project with NHS Blood and Transplant.