FORMER chief constable of Gwent Mick Giannasi has been appointed chairman of the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust.

Mr Giannasi retired from Gwent’s top police post in April 2011 after a 31-year career during which he was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for his outstanding contribution to policing.

He has been appointed to the £59,760-a-year ambulance trust post until March 31, 2016. Most recently Mr Giannasi, who was chief constable in Gwent for three years, has acted as a commissioner for the Isle of Anglesey county council, an appointment made by the Welsh Government after it intervened in the running of the authority.

Health minister Professor Mark Drakeford said: “Mick’s experience will help us to lead the organisation through a period of very significant change, including full implementation of the output of the McClelland Review.”

Mr Giannasi joins the trust as it prepares for a fundamental change of role, through a series of changes recommended in the report of the McClelland Review.