NHS South of England officially came into effect on 3rd October 2011. It is made up of three former strategic health authorities NHS South Central, NHS South East Coast and NHS South West.
The new “cluster” organisation held its first Board meeting in Newbury, confirming Dr Geoff Harris as Chair and Sir Ian Carruthers OBE as Chief Executive, as well as all other Board members.
The four strategic health authority clusters are NHS South of England, NHS London, NHS North of England and NHS Midlands. They have been formed from the previous 10 SHAs in England in order to ensure the organisations are well-placed to continue to improve NHS performance and deliver the NHS reforms during this period of transition.
From 31 March 2013 the strategic health authorities will be succeeded by a new NHS Commissioning Board, working with local clinical commissioning groups, led by GPs.
The first Board meeting of NHS South of England approved the appointments of executive and non-executive directors, and agreed corporate business and priorities.
Dr Geoff Harris said:
“I am delighted to confirm the appointments of the new directors to the Board of NHS South of England. There are many challenges ahead but I am confident we will be able to meet these given the exceptional calibre of the people who have been appointed to lead the organisation for the next 18 months.”
Sir Ian Carruthers OBE said:
“This is an exciting phase for the NHS. The number one priority is to keep our focus on improving the quality of care and NHS services for the benefit of the 13.4 million people who live in the south of England.
We also need to make sure services are delivered in a timely and efficient way, so that the taxpayer receives value for money.
A further important role will be to ensure we facilitate the organisational changes required for a modern NHS, so that the reformed service will be in the best possible position to continue meeting patients’ needs and improving care for the future.”
The executive team was confirmed as follows:
- Chief Executive – Sir Ian Carruthers OBE
- Chief Operating Officer – Andrea Young
- Director of Finance – Bob Alexander
- Medical Director – Dr Mike Durkin
- Director of Nursing – Liz Redfern CBE
- Director of Commissioner Development – Dominic Hardy
- Director of Public Health – Dr Gabriel Scally
- Director of Workforce Development – Sue Webb
- Director of Corporate Affairs – Olga Senior
- Director of Private Offices and Communications – Andrew Millward
The team of non-executive directors was confirmed as follows:
- Dr Geoff Harris – Chair
- Charles Howeson – Vice-Chair
- Kate Lampard – Vice-Chair
- Terry Butler CBE
- Joe McLoone
- Neil Churchill
- Stephen Tinton
- Alison Ryan
- Professor Steven West