As part of closer working arrangements between NHS England and NHS Improvement, the two organisations will share a new combined management group chaired by the two Chief Executives.
Appointments reflect the new joint structure which introduces 11 corporate teams with specific areas of responsibility and splits England into seven regions, each with its own integrated management team.
The first appointments to the new NHS Executive Group have now been confirmed:
* NHS Chief Financial Officer - Julian Kelly
Julian is Director General Nuclear, leading the Defence Nuclear Organisation at the Ministry of Defence. Prior to this he was Director General of Public Spending and Finance at HM Treasury. He is a qualified chartered accountant and member of CIMA.
* National NHS Medical Director - Professor Stephen Powis
Since the start of 2018 Stephen has been National Medical Director of NHS England. He is also Professor of Renal Medicine at University College London. Previously he was Medical Director (and latterly Group Chief Medical Officer) of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust; a member of the governing body of Merton Clinical Commissioning Group for five years and a Director of Healthcare Services Laboratories LLP.
* Chief Nursing Officer - Ruth May
Ruth has been the Executive Director of nursing at NHS Improvement since its creation in April 2016 and prior to that she was the Nursing Director at one of its predecessor organisations, Monitor, since July 2015. Before that, Ruth was Regional Chief Nurse and Nurse Director for the Midlands and East region of NHS England
* Deputy Chief Executive, NHS England - Matthew Swindells
Matthew joined NHS England in May 2016 as National Director: Operations and Information. Prior to this he was Senior Vice President for Population Health and Global Strategy at the Cerner Group. He has over 25 years’ experience in health care services and has worked in the Department of Health as a Chief Information Officer and as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary of State for Health. He began his career at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital, and went on to become Director of Clinical Services of Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospital and later Chief Executive of the Royal Surrey County Hospital.
* National Director for Emergency & Elective Care - Pauline Philip
Pauline has been the National Director of Urgent and Emergency Care since December 2015, acting on behalf of both NHS England and NHS Improvement. Prior to this she was Chief Executive of Luton and Dunstable University Hospital Foundation Trust.
* National Director for Strategy & Innovation - Ian Dodge
Ian joined NHS England in July 2014. Prior to this he was Director of the NHS Group and Head of Policy Profession for the Department of Health. In 2005/06 he was the Prime Minister’s senior adviser on the NHS. He is also currently an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College, London.
* National Director for Transformation & Corporate Development - Emily Lawson
Emily joined NHS England in November 2017 as National Director for Transformation & Corporate Development. A Molecular Geneticist by background, Emily has recently led a number of large-scale organisational transformations, most recently with Morrison’s. Before this, she worked with McKinsey for 14 years. Emily is also a steering committee member of the 30% Club, which aims to increase representation of women on UK plc boards, and to research and support greater diversity in the UK and global institutions.
Recruitment is underway for the remaining positions on the NHS Executive Group. These are Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Improvement Officer, Chief People Officer and Chief Provider Strategy Officer.
The new Regional Directors on the NHS Executive Group are:
* South West Regional Director - Elizabeth O’Mahony
Elizabeth is currently Chief Financial Officer at NHS Improvement, having previously been the Director of Finance at the NHS Trust Development Authority. She has over 25 years NHS experience and has spent most of her career in NHS finance.
* South East Regional Director - Anne Eden
Anne has been Regional Director of the South East region for both NHS Improvement and NHS England since October 2017. She was Regional Director for the South region for NHS Improvement when the organisation was created in April 2016 and prior to that, she served as Director of Delivery and Development at one of its predecessor organisations, the NHS Trust Development Authority, since 2015. She is lead for all regions on the national performance and delivery group for mental health. Anne has more than 30 years’ experience in the NHS.
* Midlands Regional Director - Dale Bywater
Dale has been Regional Director of the Midlands and East region at NHS Improvement since the organisation’s creation in April 2016. Prior to that, he served as the Director of Delivery and Development at one of its predecessor organisations, the NHS Trust Development Authority. He spent the first 10 years of his career working in a variety of senior operational roles within NHS acute hospitals.
* East of England Regional Director - Ann Radmore
Ann is Chief Executive of Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London, which is now rated as ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission. She has worked in the NHS for over 35 years, before joining Kingston Hospital was Director of the Better Care Fund programme at NHS England and as Chief Executive of the London Ambulance Service, Chief Executive of NHS South West London and Chief Executive of NHS Wandsworth.
* North West Regional Director - Bill McCarthy
Bill is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Operations) and Honorary Professor of Health Policy at the University of Bradford and Chair of Bradford Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. In a previous role he was the Government’s principal policy adviser on health reforms and has served on various national bodies including the NHS Constitution Forum and the Health and Local Government Strategy Board. An economist by profession, he has held a number of senior public service appointments including Director-General at the Department of Health, Chief Executive at City of York Council, Chief Executive of NHS Yorkshire and the Humber and, most recently, National Policy Director at NHS England.
* North East and Yorkshire Regional Director - Richard Barker
Richard joined NHS England as North Regional Director in 2012. Prior to this he was Chief Operating Officer of NHS North of England. Previous roles include Executive Director of Operations and Performance for North East Strategic Health Authority, Chief Operating Officer for NHS South of Tyne and Wear and Executive Director within Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals FT. He began NHS management in 1984 and his early career included senior roles with the Regional Health Authority, District Health Authorities and Hospital Management.
* London Regional Director - Sir David Sloman
Sir David is Group Chief Executive of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, having joined the Royal Free Hampstead Trust in 2009. He was formerly Chief Executive of the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust and before that he was Chief Executive of NHS Haringey. He has spent his career in healthcare management, most of it in the NHS. He is a board member of UCL Partners and a member of the London Health and Care Strategic Partnership Board. Sir David was awarded a knighthood in the 2017 New Year’s honours list in recognition of his services to the NHS.
Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, says: “We are pleased to announce the newest members of our joint NHS Executive Group, an important milestone in the closer working arrangement between NHS England and NHS Improvement.
“This team will now support the NHS over the coming years in delivering the new NHS Long Term Plan.”
Ian Dalton, Chief Executive of NHS Improvement, says: “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.
“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.”
Under the new structure the seven integrated regional teams will play a major leadership role in the geographies they manage, making decisions on how best to assure and support performance in their region, as well as supporting local system transformation.
The corporate teams will provide specialist support and expertise to the regional teams, as well as taking a national lead on their areas. This new structure means NHS England and NHS Improvement are cutting their running costs by a further 20%.
The NHS Executive Group is set to hold its first meeting in January 2019, with the new National and Regional Directors expected to formally lead their integrated directorates by April 2019.
