A woman has been appointed to take on one of the toughest jobs in the NHS.
Gail Wannell will take over as chief executive of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust in November.
The trust, which runs Crawley Hospital and East Surrey Hospital in Redhill, ended the last financial year more than £40 million in the red - one of the largest deficits in England.
It was spending £2 million a month more than it could afford and plans to axe 400 posts to save money.
Ms Wannell replaces troubleshooter Gary Walker, who leaves the trust at the end of August when his fixed term contract for the £110,000-a-year post expires.
Ms Wannell has more than 26 years experience in healthcare.
At West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust she successfully turned around an underlying deficit of £15.5 million.
Surrey and Sussex chairman Roy Davies said: "The knowledge, leadership skills and experience that Gail will bring with her to the organisation will be invaluable as we work towards greater financial stability and improving further our performance."
Ms Wannell said: "What lies ahead will be challenging but I am confident the trust can be an organisation we can all be proud of and I am committed to continuously improving healthcare for local people."
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