The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced the establishment of a ‘single joint executive team’ for it and NHS England, as it transitions into one organisation.
It said the team would provide ‘unified leadership’ across both organisations, and will manage directors from related work areas from 3 November 2025. They will then begin to combine resources.
It was announced in March that NHS England would be abolished and merged with DHSC.
The new team includes Sir Jim Mackey as CEO of NHS England and Professor Chris Whitty as chief medical officer (see box for full list). Dr Claire Fuller is also named as an interim medical director, along with Professor Meghana Pandit, with recruitment for a permanent role to take place during autumn.
The DHSC added that national priority programmes had been set up to help drive the delivery of the government’s key priorities. This includes Dr Claire Fuller as interim national priority programme director for neighbourhood health (see box for list).
The names of the regional leadership have also been revealed (see box), with existing regional public health directors to begin to report into the regional directors from the same area from 3 November.
Alongside the changes to NHS England, ICBs were also told in March they must cut their running costs by around 50% by October 2025. Plans have now been put in place to go from 42 ICBs to 26, with various clusters and mergers announced over the summer.
The most recent of these being the confirmation of six new ICBs by NHS England, abolishing 12 existing ICBs as of 1 April 2026.
Leadership team
Joint executive team:
- Samantha Jones, DHSC Permanent Secretary
- Jim Mackey, CEO of NHS England
- Professor Chris Whitty – Chief Medical Officer
- Tom Riordan – Chief Operating Officer/Second Permanent Secretary
- Matthew Style – Director General, System Development
- Duncan Burton – Chief Nursing Officer for England
- Catherine Frances – Director General, Global, Public Health and Emergencies
- Professor Lucy Chappell – Chief Scientific Adviser and Director General, Science and Research
- Sally Warren – Interim Director General, Adult Social Care (recruitment to the permanent role began in July)
- TBC – Interim Director General, Technology and Data (recruitment to the permanent role will take place during autumn)
- Elizabeth O’Mahony – Interim Director General, Finance (recruitment to the permanent role began in August)
- David Probert – Interim Director General, Performance and Delivery (and continuing as NHS England’s Interim Deputy CEO)
- Jo Lenaghan – Interim Director General, People (recruitment to the permanent role began in August)
- Dr Claire Fuller and Professor Meghana Pandit – Interim Medical Directors (recruitment to the permanent role will take place during autumn)
- TBC – Interim Director General, Strategy and Healthcare Policy (recruitment to the permanent role began in July)
- TBC – Interim Director General, Commercial and Growth (recruitment to the permanent role began earlier in September)
Regional leadership:
- Louise Shepherd – Regional Director, North West
- Fiona Edwards – Regional Director, North East & Yorkshire
- Dale Bywater – Regional Director, Midlands
- Clare Panniker – Regional Director, East of England
- Caroline Clarke – Regional Director, London
- Sue Doheny – Regional Director, South West (while Elizabeth O’Mahony is NHS England’s Chief Financial Officer)
- Anne Eden – Regional Director, South East (until she leaves at the end of March)
National Priority Programmes:
- Mark Cubbon – National Priority Programme Director for Planned Care
- Sarah-Jane Marsh – National Priority Programme Director for Urgent and Emergency Care
- Duncan Burton – Interim National Priority Programme Director for Maternity, Women’s Health, Children & Young People
- Dr Claire Fuller – Interim National Priority Programme Director for Neighbourhood Health
- Recruitment to the role of National Priority Programme Director for Mental Health, Learning Disability & Autism will start shortly.
- Dr Amanda Doyle will continue as NHSE’s National Director of Primary Care and Community Services, and Glen Burley will continue as NHSE’s Financial Reset and Accountability Director, both reporting to the NHSE CEO.
Source: DHSC
