Gil Baldwin has stepped down as chief executive of St Andrew’s Healthcare after three and a half years in the role.

Current chairman, Peter Winslow, has taken over the leadership of the mental health charity as executive chairman, with immediate effect, until a permanent successor can identified.

A company spokesman told HealthInvestor UK that Baldwin had taken the decision to step down “for personal reasons”.  

Baldwin joined the organisation in July 2014, after predecessor Philip Sugarman retired due to ill health. Both incumbents attracted media scrutiny over pay levels, with Sugarman paid £751,000 in his final year as chief executive, and Baldwin attracting attention over a £99,000 bonus in the year to March 2016.

In a statement on its website, St Andrews said: “The board would like to place on record our thanks for the significant progress that the charity has made under Gil’s leadership and for his dedication and commitment over the past three and a half years.

“Our chairman Peter Winslow has been appointed as executive chairman until a permanent successor is identified. Peter has an impressive record running large organisations and has a long and distinguished history with St Andrew’s, having been on the board for 12 years and acted as chairman for the last four.

“We are confident that under his stewardship St Andrew’s will continue to be a centre of excellence for mental health provision and deliver great care for our patients and their families.”