11.12.18
New joint leadership team unveiled by NHS England and NHS Improvement
NHS England (NHSE) and NHS Improvement (NHSI) have revealed the first appointments to the NHS Executive Group, a new joint senior leadership team announced as part of “closer working arrangements” between the two bodies.
The new combined management group will be chaired by the two current chief executives and the new national and regional directors expected to formally lead their integrated departments by April 2019.
Under the new structure, NHSI and NHSE say total costs will be cut by around 20% with three executive directors announcing their departures as part of the creation of the new body.
Chief executive of NHSE Simon Stevens commented: “We are pleased to announce the newest members of our joint NHS Executive Group, an important milestone in the closer working arrangement between NHSE and NHSI.
“This team will now support the NHS over the coming years in delivering the NHS long-term plan.”
The current leader of the Ministry of Defence’s nuclear division, Julian Kelly, will take up the joint chief financial officer post after previously working as the director general of public spending and finance at HM Treasury.
Stephen Powis, who was appointed as the national medical director of NHS England earlier this year and has previously held senior roles at the Royal Free London NHS FT, the British Transplantation Society and Merton CCG, will become the national NHS medical director for the two bodies.
NHSI’s executive director of nursing, Ruth May, will become the chief nursing officer, and NHSE’s Ian Dodge will take up the post of national director for strategy and innovation.
The new deputy chief executive for NHS England will be Matthew Swindells after joining in 2016 as the operations and information national director. He was formerly the senior vice president for population health and global strategy at the Cerner Group.
The two bodies say recruitment is underway for the remaining positions, which include chief improvement, people, commercial and provider strategy officers.
NHSI’s Ian Dalton said: “With these appointments, we have secured a number of exceptional leaders to join the NHS Executive Group.
“Each of these individuals has shown determination to work alongside the NHS to support improvement and passion for delivering better care for patients. I look forward very much to working with them all.
Three current executive directors will leave NHSI on 31 March 2019, with Steve Russell, executive regional managing director for London; Lyn Simpson, executive regional managing director for the north; and Adam Sewell-Jones, executive director of NHS; departing.
Dalton thanked them for their leadership and said: “A number of our executive directors have taken this opportunity to pursue other leadership opportunities. They have been extremely valuable members of our team and I am grateful to each of them for their outstanding contributions to the NHS.”
Image credit - Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire/PA Images