Joint executive team to be set up across DHSC and NHS England
Source: gov.uk (2025-09-17)

New joint executive team marks next steps of the transition to one organisation.

A single joint executive team will be established at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England as part of the transition to one organisation.

It will provide unified leadership across both organisations, bringing policy and delivery together. The team will manage directors from related work areas from 3 November 2025 and will begin to combine resources.

In March, the Prime Minister announced NHS England would be brought back into DHSC to end the duplication resulting from 2 organisations doing the same job in a system currently holding staff back from delivering for patients. By stripping back layers of red tape and bureaucracy, more resources will be put back into the frontline rather than being spent on unnecessary admin.

The new teams can be found below.

Single joint executive team

The single joint executive team will comprise:
- 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)
Joint regional teams are also being established to serve as the delivery arm of the centre, driving improvement and performance locally.

Regional leadership

Regional leadership is as follows:
- Louise Shepherd - Regional Director, North West
- Fiona Edwards - Regional Director, North East and 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)
Existing DHSC Regional Public Health Directors will begin to report into Regional Directors in the same area from 3 November, subject to appropriate consultation, while continuing to work with the Director General of Public Health and Emergencies.

National Priority Programmes are also being set up to drive delivery of the government’s key health priorities, drawing together teams and expertise from across the organisations and the country.

National Priority Programmes

National Priority Programmes are led by:
- 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 and 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 and Autism will start shortly
- Dr Amanda Doyle will continue as NHS England’s National Director of Primary Care and Community Services and Glen Burley will continue as NHS England’s Financial Reset and Accountability Director, both reporting to the NHS England CEO