South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SCAS) has appointed John Black as Medical Director.
John has been working part time for the Trust since 2007 when he was appointed Divisional Medical Director for Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire and latterly as Interim Medical Director for the Trust.
Will Hancock, SCAS’ Chief Executive said: ‘I am delighted to welcome John to the SCAS Board. The ambulance service has an increasingly important role to play in ensuring the right clinical care for patients with emergency and urgent conditions and John will lead on this work. I know that everyone
across SCAS and the wider health community will welcome John’s appointment.’
John Black’s responsibilities will include:
- Developing and leading a professional, high-performing team to ensure the identification, maintenance and assurance of agreed clinical standards towards delivering the best level of patient care and support.
- Providing strategic clinical expertise and driving clinical standards that are patient focused and cost efficient.
- Working together with the Chief Executive and his fellow directors to shape the future strategic direction of the Trust.
John Black qualified from Guy’s Hospital Medical School (UMDS) in 1984 and initially undertook higher surgical training in cardiothoracic surgery before completing emergency medicine training in 1999 in the Oxford Region. He is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, a reservist member of the Royal Army Medical Corps and has served in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
Since 2005 John Black has been an emergency medicine consultant advisor to the Department of Health’s (DH) Emergency Preparedness Division helping to develop clinical strategy for Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) and advising on enhancing UK resilience for mass casualty incidents. He provides clinical support as a volunteer BASICS doctor, attending critically ill, severely injured and entrapped patients in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and provides clinical support to the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance based at RAF Benson.
John is a member of the governing body of Oxford University (Congregation), a member of the Faculty of Physiological Sciences, tutors medical students at St Edmund Hall in Anatomy and is a Member of the Board of the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care. He Chairs the College of Emergency Medicine’s Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine Sub-Committee, and sits on the Intercollegiate Board for Training in Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine. In June 2009 he was appointed an Honorary Physician to the Queen (Civilian).
Commenting on his appointment, John Black said: ‘I am delighted to accept the role of Medical Director for SCAS, and much look forward to driving clinical standards in the Trust to benefit the 4 million people we serve across 4 counties both now and into the future.’
