A FRUSTRATED Royal Bournemouth Hospital governor has resigned after describing public perception of the trust as “secretive, arrogant and patronising” in the wake of the Basil Fozard scandal.

Mr Fozard was re-hired as medical director on £152,000 a year - £20,000 more than his previous salary - one month after being allowed to retire with a £1.9million pension, which included a £325,000 lump sum.

The Department of Health announced measures to close the loophole allowing the trick days after Mr Fozard’s “retirement” and later described the trust’s actions as “completely unacceptable”.

A public outcry led to the elected governors, who are supposed to hold the board to account on the community’s behalf, to call an emergency meeting for September 1.

This, however, will be held behind closed doors after lead governor Bob Gee said the topics for discussion are “not newsworthy” and would be “difficult for the public to understand”, comparing the talks to “having a private conversation with your mum”.

Yesterday this prompted former magistrate Colin Pipe, who joined the council of governors in October last year, to stand down.

In a letter to trust chair Jane Stichbury, he said Mr Fozard’s reappointment had brought concerns he had held “for a number of months” into “sharper focus”, describing the role of individual governors as “untenable”.

“The trust is spending public money delivering a public service,” he said. “The public are entitled to be assured that proper processes and safeguards are in place.

“The current public perception of the board is that it is secretive, arrogant and patronising. These are hard words but that is the reality.”

Speaking to the Daily Echo after sending the letter, Mr Pipe said: “We have to be accountable and the public are perfectly entitled to say ‘what are you going to spend that money on?’

“I just hope that further down the line they understand that they have to have this meeting in public. There is a groundswell of opinion that this meeting should be a public one.”

He said that he was “disturbed” chief executive Tony Spotswood had yet to comment on the situation, adding that he feels trust bosses were hoping “it would just go away”.

In a statement, Ms Stichbury said: “I was sorry to hear of Colin’s resignation, but I believe the decision to appoint Basil Fozard was the correct one for our trust as he is an exceptional medical director and enjoys widespread support from within the trust and the wider community.

"The process of his rehiring was made appropriately, and met with the requirements placed upon the trust. I firmly believe that our most important priority should be what is in the best interests of our patients and our community. We need to be supporting the health services provided by the Trust and that is what our staff are working tirelessly to achieve on a daily basis.”