A new chief executive has been appointed at Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

Tony Bell has been acting chief executive of the trust since March 2000.

Mr Bell was awarded the OBE in 1998 for services to healthcare.

In January 2001 chief executive, Hilary Rowland, was suspended following the publication of the Redfern report into the Alder Hey scandal which saw thousands of organs secretly stripped from the bodies of dead children.

'Considerable leadership'

Ms Rowland was dismissed in November after being found guilty of misconduct.

The disciplinary hearing concluded the former hospital boss had brought both the Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust and herself into disrepute.

On Tuesday Angela Jones, chairman of the Trust, welcomed the appointment of Mr Bell.

Ms Jones said: "Tony Bell has shown considerable leadership and commitment during his time as acting chief executive at Alder Hey and I look forward to working with him in the future."

Mr Bell previously served for five years as director of joint commissioning and nursing adviser at Liverpool Health Authority.