Stephen Chandler named as county council's new Director of Adult Services
Stephen Chandler has been appointed as Oxfordshire County Council’s new Director of Adult Services.
He is currently Director of Adult Services and lead commissioner with Somerset County Council and will take up his post in Oxfordshire in September.
Mr Chandler gained national recognition for leading the transformation of Adult services in Somerset, as well as being system lead with the NHS for a number of urgent care work streams.
He said he was absolutely passionate about making a difference to the lives of citizens, supporting people to achieve their potential. He was attracted to Oxfordshire County Council by its local plans, with its focus on its citizens and partnerships which he feels fits well with his experiences.
“I see an ambitious system led by an ambitious council which I really wanted to be part of,” Mr Chandler said.
Mr Chandler replaces Kate Terroni, who left Oxfordshire County Council in May to take up a post as chief inspector of adult social care with the Care Quality Commission.
Oxfordshire County Council chief executive Yvonne Rees thanked Lucy Butler, director for Children, Education and Families, for stepping into the role of Director of Adult Services on an interim basis.
She said: “Lucy has really embraced the challenge of both roles in her normal enthusiastic and caring way - her support and passion is infectious and has been invaluable.”
Stephen gained national recognition for leading the transformation of adult services in Somerset, as well as being system lead with the NHS for a number of urgent care work streams. He started his career as a nurse and worked for the first half of his career in a number of NHS roles include board level positions.
Following a period as a joint commissioner his most recent positions have been within local government in several assistant director and director of adult services positions.
Stephen is recognised for his work developing innovative models of adult social care with a focus on earlier invention, partnership and market inclusiveness. He has a passion for co-production, improving quality and has been leading the introduction of #doityourway a model of ‘Promoting Independence’. Sometimes described as radical sometimes traditional he has an absolute focus on leadership with a specific emphasis on the roles that professional leadership plays and the impact this has on everything we do.
Within previous roles he has led a turnaround of the ASC financial management developing and instilling a robust discipline within all levels within the service with financial control delegated to team and practitioner level.
Stephen is passionate about making a difference to the lives of citizens, and supporting people to achieve their potential. He was attracted to Oxfordshire by its challenges, its local plans and its focus on place its citizens and partnerships which he feels fits well with his experiences.
He has been the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADASS) national Policy Lead for Mental Health since 2014