The medical director of Redbridge’s NHS hospital trust has left the organisation, less than a month after an independent report into its leadership determined his position was potentially “unsustainable”.

The Health Service Journal broke the news on Wednesday, August 29, that Dr Nadeem Moghal was leaving Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUT) on secondment to the Royal College of Pathologists and the private Nuffield Trust.

The news comes just 32 days after the trust’s chief executive, Matthew Hopkins, announced he was stepping down.

Both Dr Moghal and Mr Hopkins were criticised surprisingly heavily in a recent independent review into governance practices at the trust, carried out by Deloitte.

Commissioned by NHS Improvement after BHRUT was placed in financial special measures in February, the report credited Dr Moghal with “tackling inappropriate behaviours” among staff at the trust.

However, it went on: “ At times, the MD’s style and approach can be overly robust and that it is not always conducive to bringing the medical workforce with him.

“This has contributed to some tensions in relationships between consultants and the MD, with an informal vote of no confidence lodged by a group of consultants.”

It concluded: “Sentiment amongst the consultant body has reached a level where the MD’s position may be unsustainable.”

In November last year, the Recorder reported the trust’s Senior Medical Staff Committee had written to chairman Joe Fielder declaring they had “lost confidence in the approach of the current executive leadership”.

In response to that letter Mr Hopkins promised there would be “a renewed and reinvigorated dialogue” between consultants and leadership.

Responding to the news that Dr Moghal is leaving the trust, Chris Bown, BHRUT’s interim chief executive, insisted the trust remained clear about the standards it expects staff to treat each other with.

He said: “As a board, and as a senior leadership team, we will continue to encourage the very highest standards of professionalism among all our colleagues.

“We will also continue to challenge anyone whose behaviour does not reflect our shared values, and will not be afraid to take action as and when required.”