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The chief operating officer of the Alzheimer’s Society will leave for a new role after seven years at the charity.
Kathryn Smith has agreed to become chief executive of the Social Care Institute of Excellence and will take up the post at the beginning of May.
Smith agreed to leave early at the end of April to ease pressure on outgoing costs at a time when the charity has placed 20 per cent of staff on furlough.
Smith said in a statement: “I’m really looking forward to applying my life-long passion for social care and all that I’ve learnt and experienced working for people with dementia, who are the majority of social care recipients, in leading urgent and essential improvements to our social care system.
“I am so fortunate and proud to have worked with so many inspiring people at the Alzheimer’s Society and I’ll be carrying on my support of their wonderful work as an ambassador and a volunteer.”
Smith’s departure comes after the appointment last month of Kate Lee as the charity’s new chief executive.
Lee replaced Jeremy Hughes, who left the charity early at the beginning of March, having announced his departure in 2019.
Hughes was supposed to take up the chief executive role at Samaritans, but the charity opted against going ahead with the appointment after the emergence of bullying allegations against him.
Samaritans said that the decision to cancel Hughes’s appointment was not because of those allegations, which the charity said it was not in a position to judge.