APPOINTMENTS TO NEW STRATEGIC HEALTH AUTHORITIES

5 May 2006 10:45 AM

New Chief Executives announced alongside appointments at the Department of Health.

Eight of the ten designate Chief Executives of the new Strategic Health Authorities were announced today by Hugh Taylor, Acting Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health. This follows the announcement of the new structure of fewer, more strategic organisations, made on the 12th April. The appointments will commence when the new SHAs come into effect from 1 July.

The NHS Appointments Commission has also today made public the names of nine of the ten chairs for the new SHAs.

Commenting on the new appointments, Hugh Taylor said:

"In filling these posts, we have concentrated on finding exceptional people to deliver improved healthcare for local communities. We selected from a field of candidates from across the NHS, the wider public and private sectors. Everyone appointed has significant experience of working in different aspects of healthcare and is able to draw on strong track records of delivery to embed and accelerate essential reforms.

"It has been important to put in place the leadership team for the new Strategic Health Authorities as quickly as possible, to provide stability and to focus energy on the future of the NHS. In the meantime, current SHA boards are working hard on financial recovery, delivering demanding targets for targets and overseeing
organisational and structural service change. Their work is critical and must continue until the new SHAs are established."

The individuals appointed are:

South East Coast
Candy Morris is currently Chief Executive at both Surrey and Sussex and Kent and Medway Strategic Health Authorities. In the past she has also been seconded to work with the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber and the Trent and Northern and Yorkshire Regional Offices to develop a strategic approach and improve population outcomes cross-government. Candy formerly fulfilled the role of Chief Executive at East Surrey Health Authority, West Sussex Health Authority and Scunthorpe and Goole Hospitals Trust. She has worked in the NHS for nearly 29 years.

North East
David Flory is currently Chief Executive at both County Durham and Tees Valley and Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authorities. David was formerly the Chief Executive of Newcastle and North Tyneside Health Authority and the Acting Regional Director of the Northern and Yorkshire Regional Office of the Department of Health. A qualified accountant, David has also recently taken up the position of Interim Director of NHS Financial Recovery at the Department of Health. He brings 15 years of experience in healthcare to his new SHA.

East Midlands
Dr Barbara Hakin OBE is currently Chief Executive at Bradford South and West Primary Care Trust as well as Programme Director for the proposed new Bradford and Airedale PCT. Barbara has combined these roles with the position of Interim Director of Commissioning Development of the Department of Health. Barbara is the lead negotiator for the GMS contract. Her previous roles have included Director of Primary Care and National PCT Development Lead at the NHS Modernisation Agency and 20 years as Principal in General Practice in Wibsey, West Yorkshire.

South West
Sir Ian Carruthers OBE is currently Acting Chief Executive of the NHS based at the Department of Health. Sir Ian has held a range of senior positions in the NHS most recently as Chief Executive of the Dorset and Somerset Strategic Health Authority (SHA), and Chief Executive of the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight SHA. Since joining the NHS in 1969, he has also held various senior hospital posts in Blackpool, Southend, Portsmouth and Plymouth. Sir Ian has also been a member of both The NHS Modernisation Board and the National Steering and Advisory Group for Shifting the Balance of Power within the NHS. He also served as a member on the Modernisation Action Team on Patient Access, which contributed to The NHS Plan. He brings 37 years of experience in healthcare to this new position

South Central
Mark Britnell joined University Hospital Birmingham (UHB) in 1998 as Director of Operations and Deputy Chief Executive before becoming Chief Executive in 2000. He also sits on the Advisory Board of the National Consumer Council, is a Senior Associate of the Kings Fund and Non-Executive Director of Dr Foster. Mark helped develop the NHS Plan in 2000 and is a member of the National Leadership Network. Mark has represented the Department of Health on a development tour of China and plays a leading part in the European Union sponsored development programme with Academic Clinical Centres in South Africa.

Yorkshire and the Humber
Margaret Edwards is currently the Director General of Access at the Department of Health. She has also held two other director roles within the Department, as Director of Access and Choice and Director of Performance. Before joining the Department in 2001, she was the Chief Executive of Heatherwood & Wrexham Park NHS Trust during which time the Trust was awarded the Health Service Journal Trust of the Year. Her previous roles have included Commissioning Director for Plymouth and Torbay Health Authority, General Manager for Children's Services and Director of Corporate Development at Homewood & Bournewood Community Trusts. She has held a number of other posts in the NHS spanning 18 years, in addition to her 5 years in the Department of Health.

North West
Mike Farrar CBE is currently Chief Executive of West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority. Before taking up this post in 2005, he was Chief Executive of South Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority, the first health economy in England in which all hospital trusts were awarded Foundation Trust status. Previously Head of Primary Care at the Department of Health, Mike led the development of primary care policy for the NHS Plan. He was the national Director of NHS Live, a programme designed to drive forward improvement and innovation in the NHS. A former semi-professional footballer, Mike was last year appointed a non-executive director of Sport England.

London
David Nicholson CBE has been the Chief Executive of Birmingham and Black Country Strategic Health Authority since 2003, and of West Midlands South and Shropshire & Staffordshire SHAs since 2005. David has worked in the National Health Service for over 25 years and has extensive experience at national, regional and operational levels. He was formerly Regional Director for the NHS in Trent, and previously worked in a range of front-line NHS organisations including nine years as Chief Executive of Doncaster Royal Infirmary NHS Trust.

The posts in the West Midlands and the East of England have not yet been filled on a permanent basis. Arrangements to find a substantive Chief Executive for these positions is underway. Cynthia Bower, Managing Director of Birmingham and the Black Country SHA, will be the interim Chief Executive for West Midlands. Arrangements for the interim position in the East of England are still being finalised.

There will shortly be an advertisement for Sir Nigel Crisp's successor as Chief Executive of the NHS. Pending this appointment, and in light of the recent competition for Strategic Health Authority (SHA) Chief Executives, two new appointments have been made to the new Director General level posts in the Department of Health covering Commissioning and Provider Development. With the agreement of the Chair designate of the South West Strategic Health Authority, Sir Ian Carruthers' secondment as Acting Chief Executive has been extended up to the end of 2006.

Duncan Selbie, currently Director General for Performance and Programmes in the Department, will take on the role of Director General of Commissioning; and Andrew Cash, Chief Executive of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, will be seconded to the Department as Director General of Provider Development.

Notes to Editors
Where the SHA Chief Executives are making critically important national contributions, primarily Sir Ian Carruthers as Acting NHS Chief Executive and David Flory as the Interim Director of NHS Financial Recovery, arrangements are being made to enable them to deliver in their national roles and contribute effectively to key decisions in their SHA.

The new Chairs of the SHAs can be found on the NHS Appointments Commission website www.appointments.org.uk. On 28th July 2005, the Government asked SHAs to consider, where appropriate, reconfiguring to align with Government Office boundaries in a way that would deliver significant reduction in management and administrative costs (and to make a case where this was not appropriate in their particular area). The proposals for the reconfiguration of SHAs (and PCTs) were then subject to a 14 week local consultation, which ended on 22 March 2006. The announcement of the new SHAs was made on 12th April and can be found at www.dh.gov.uk
Salary levels agreed by Public Sector Pay Committee (the cross Government committee led by HMT) are £150k to £170k with £190k for London. In addition, there is a performance bonus scheme for those who meet certain standards including reaching financial balance in their area which could provide further non-consolidated payments. Poor performance could mean no pay uplift in that year.

Cynthia Bower, has been Managing Director of Birmingham and the Black Country SHA. In 2000 she became Chief Executive of Birmingham Specialist Community Health NHS Trust and in 2002 Chief Executive of South Birmingham PCT. She moved to the Health Service in 1995 to work for Birmingham Health Authority, working as Director of Primary Care at the time of the establishment of Primary Care Groups and the first wave PCTs. Prior to this she spent a number of years working with children in a variety of settings and managing social care services for children.

Before joining the Department of Health in November 2003, Duncan Selbie had worked in the NHS for 25 years, most recently as Chief Executive of the South East London Strategic Health Authority. Prior to this he spent ten years in mental health services in south west London, from 1997 as Chief Executive of the South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.

Andrew Cash OBE, is currently Chief Executive of the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He has been Chief Executive since the Trust formed following merger in 2001. Prior to his current role, Andrew has worked at local, regional and national level. He has 26 years' experience in the NHS and 18 at Chief Executive level. He joined the NHS on the National Management Training Scheme as a direct graduate entrant.