Rachel Flowers, the director of public health at the cash-strapped council who helped guide the borough through the covid pandemic, is leaving her job.
Time to move on: Rachel Flowers has been Croydon’s director of public health since 2016
Her boss, Katherine Kerswell, the council chief executive, made the announcement almost as an after-thought in her little weekly emailed homily sent to Croydon staff just before the weekend.
“In staffing news,” Kerswell wrote, “I want to let you know that Rachel Flowers, our director of public health, will be leaving Croydon.
“Rachel has been at the council for eight years and during that time has championed many important causes. She has worked to tackle health inequality in the borough as part of her role, built strong relationships with our NHS colleagues, and has been an important ally to many of our staff networks, giving her time, energy, and voice to raise awareness and help us become a more inclusive workplace and employer.
“Rachel saw us through the pandemic, perhaps the biggest public health incident in many of our memories.”
“Perhaps”?
Kerswell continued: “I have had the pleasure of working with Rachel throughout my time at Croydon and I have seen the impact that she has made to us and to our partners. She will be missed by so many, and we wish her all the best health and happiness for the future.
“The director of public health role is a statutory position, and we are working to confirm cover arrangements.” Which means Kerswell will have to find, and pay for, a replacement. It’s not a post, like so many others at the bankrupted council, that Kerswell can simply leave vacant.
Kerswell gave no indication of whether Flowers had resigned, or was moving to a senior position with another authority.
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