Spire Healthcare appoints Justin Ash as CEO

Britain’s second-largest healthcare firm Spire Healthcare Group Plc on Wednesday appointed former Oasis Healthcare CEO Justin Ash as its chief executive officer.

The company, which runs 39 private hospitals across Britain, said Ash will take up his duties on Oct. 30. Current interim CEO Simon Gordon will revert to his role of chief financial officer.

Earlier this month, Spire decided to settle claims relating to actions of former breast surgeon Ian Paterson, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in May for carrying out unnecessary operations on 10 patients.

The company said it would set up a fund, to be paid for by Spire and Paterson’s insurers, to compensate 750 patients who were wrongly diagnosed.

Spire said its contribution to the fund would be 27.2 million pounds ($36.42 million). ($1 = 0.7469 pounds)

(Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Adrian Croft)