After 40 years in the NHS and seven years at East Midlands Ambulance Service, Director of Finance and Deputy Chief Executive, Mike Naylor, is retiring.
Mike, who previously worked as Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust and Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust as Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance joined EMAS in 2016 as Director of Finance and Deputy Chief Executive.
Speaking about his time at East Midlands Ambulance Service, he said:
“Thanks to the commitment and contributions of many people, EMAS is in a very different place to when I joined seven years ago.
“Together with my tremendous teams - Finance, Procurement, Contracting, Sustainability, Estates, Fleet and Logistics, and Security Management and with colleagues across EMAS, we’ve worked hard to get more of the finance and resource needed to improve services.
“Seven years ago, we received about £150 million from our commissioners to provide the A&E contract across the East Midlands. We now receive around £320 million to provide the service. There are still plenty of challenges for us at EMAS but we are making progress.
“The increase in investment has helped us to grow our frontline workforce.
“We’ve invested in our fleet to reduce the average age of our vehicles from six years to four and a half.
“The introduction of electric fast response vehicles and the replacement of old boilers on stations with new ones is supporting us on the Net Zero journey.
“When our facilities management supplier went into administration, we quickly identified and put in place a new contractor to ensure essential work was delivered. Given ongoing financial pressures, it’s been good to have joint ventures with police and fire partners to improve facilities in areas where the opportunity allowed. We continue to invest in the right locations to deliver the best patient care and ensure a safe, high quality working environment for our people.
“Our Security team introduced body worn cameras and I’m pleased to see that the number of colleagues using them continues to increase.
“The above is just a snapshot of the work going on to keep improving patient and staff services. Finance in the NHS remains very tight and provider organisations like ours will need to keep battling for every penny, while evidencing that funds are used wisely and not wasted.
“EMAS truly is one of the nicest places I’ve worked with colleagues focused on delivering the best possible care for patients. I found everyone to be very supportive, and it’s the best Finance team I’ve ever worked with.
“I’ve not had much chance to think about how I will spend my retirement, and so I have no set plans. The last 40 years in the NHS have felt like going at 100 miles an hour! I am looking forward to more time with my family including my grandchild, and for fishing and playing golf. I intend to do some volunteering too – my current thought is a role with the Citizen Advice Bureau would be good; I’d like to keep giving something back to my local community.”
As we bid a fond farewell to Mike and wish him all the best in his retirement, we give a warm welcome to new Director of Finance, Stuart Poynor, who joined us in November 2024.