The new director of communications at Epsom, St Helier and Sutton hospitals has promised they will learn the lessons from the Mid-Staffordshire scandal.

Rachel Royall will now oversee all of the trust’s communications, freedom of information requests and social media.

She said: “Having started here at the beginning of August, I can already tell that we have some great staff and volunteers who are really making a difference for the people we serve.

“However, I’m under no illusion that this will be an easy role – we are a very busy team with a lot of aspirations, and as an organisation, certainly have some challenges ahead.  But, we’ll continue to work hard to make sure that we are communicating well with our patients, visitors, staff and other local people. 

“I am absolutely clear that the people who use our hospitals will be at the heart of what the communication and corporate affairs team do, and will be working with our colleagues across the hospitals to ensure that we all learn lessons from the Francis inquiry into failings at Mid-Staffordshire.”

Ms Royall is one of the trust’s seven executive directors and therefore partly responsible for the operational performance of the whole organisation.

In the past she worked for the Department of Health, helping to implement the four-hour A&E standard, and in the communications department for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.