FOUR senior appointments have been made to the new NHS Wirral Community Trust.

Frances Street has been appointed chairwoman. Frances has been Chairman of NHS Wirral since its establishment in October 2006 and was previously chair of Birkenhead and Wallasey Primary Care Trust.

John South, current director of provider and Primary Care for NHS Wirral has been appointed as the interim chief executive officer for Wirral's new community health provider organisation, NHS Wirral Community Trust.

Other appointments include non-executive directors Chris Allen, from Prenton, and Garry Gray, of Meols who both previously sat on the NHS Wirral Board.

The community trust organisation, which comes into being on April 1, will employ approximately 1,400 staff and provide a range of community services including therapy and rehabilitation therapies, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, podiatry, speech and language.

In addition, services from walk-in centres across Wirral at Arrowe Park, Eastham Clinic and Victoria Central Health Centre in Wallasey will be provided as well as GP out-of-hours cover.

Frances Street said: "As director of Primary Care and Provider Services for NHS Wirral, John South has led the development of Wirral's community health services since the inception of the primary care trust.

"He brings with him unparalleled knowledge and experience of the challenges we face in Wirral.

"John has been directly involved in every step of the development of the Community Trust proposals to date, so we will benefit greatly from that continuity.

"NHS Wirral has had a tremendous track record over the last five or so years - winning PCT of the Year in 2007 and topping the World Class Commissioning scores in 2008 and 2010. This will provide a firm foundation for the community trust."

John South, from West Kirby, said: "I am delighted to have been appointed interim chief executive to the NHS Wirral Community Trust.

"We face exciting but challenging times as we build on the success of NHS Wirral and we work together to further improve health services for the people of Wirral."