MARK Curtis is just what the doctor ordered for Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust. Mr Curtis will be the Trust's new chairman, stepping up from his previous roles as deputy chairman of its board and head of the audit committee.

Appointed for a four-year term, Mr Curtis brings 20 years of wide-ranging experience to the job, from finance and marketing to managing information systems.

As chairman, Mr Curtis will receive a remuneration of £17,545. He succeeds Cessa Moore who retires as Trust chairman this week.

Stephan Ludwig has been re-appointed to serve a further four-year term as a non-executive director of the Trust. An expert in financial risk identification and evaluation, his background is in setting up new business ventures and he has held management posts with both Credit Suisse and Nomura.

After 15 years as an investment banker in London, New York and Asia, Mr Ludwig now runs his own portfolio of company investments and sits on three company boards. He receives a remuneration of £5,800 a year Trust chief executive Martin Woodford said the non-executive appointments were crucial to the success of the board.