Mr. Francis Doherty:

When I became CEO on 1 June, I had already arranged to meet the chair because I wanted to kick off with a positive relationship. I asked the board to scrutinise me and my team. I advised that I was going to bring more senior management to the board meetings, and that I would not be presenting the finance reports, which would be done by the director of finance who had just been hired.

I was hopeful and expectant that when I revealed things that I found over the course of my time as CEO, the board would understand that we needed to address these and that certain things had to be done, including contacting the regulators and being transparent, and that there was only one way through this for the organisation.

I really felt, from probably mid-August onwards, that there was a change in the board's position to me and my colleagues and that it took a more protectionist view of activities. That was, to my mind, misaligned with the interests of the trust and service users.