This Movers and Shakers roundup includes a host of NHS England departures as well as a new national chief digital, data and technology officer across the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England.
Rob Thompson has been appointed chief digital, data and technology officer across the DHSC and NHSE.
Thompson joins from the Home Office, where he is chief digital, data and technology officer, having been part of the leadership team there for almost eight years.
He will take on responsibilities from Jules Hunt, who has held the role of director general for technology, digital and data on an interim basis since last year.
Minal Bakhai announced that she is leaving NHSE after eight years. Since 2024, she has been the national director of primary care and community transformation and improvement.
She is also senior responsible officer for the national Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme.
Senior NHS official Matthew Swindells is stepping down from his role as joint chair of four major hospital trusts in north-west London.
News came to light that Swindells acted as an adviser to Palantir through the now-defunct lobbying firm Global Counsel, whilst privately urging colleagues to add more patient data into the NHS federated data platform.
Last month, NHSE revealed changes to its leadership team, with three leading board members standing down at the end of March.
Julian Kelly, chief finance officer, Emily Lawson, chief operating officer, and Steve Russell, chief delivery officer and national director for vaccination and screening, have all now left their roles.
Samantha Riley left her role as founder and director of the Making Data Count programme at NHSE on 31 March 2026.
Frances Martin has been appointed as chair of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and Wye Valley NHS Trust.
She started on 1 April 2026, replacing Rusell Hardy, who stepped down as chairman of the Foundation Group of Trusts, which also includes South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust and George Eliot NHS Trust.
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has appointed Paul Calaminus as its new substantive chief executive. He is currently chief executive at North East London NHS Foundation Trust and previously led East London NHS Foundation Trust.
Professor Ian Abbs is set to return to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust as interim chief medical officer from April 2026.
The appointment follows a broader leadership restructure within the trust and comes just months after Abbs stepped down as chief executive, a role he held from 2019 to 2025.
Ben Morrin has been appointed as chief executive of NHS Employers and will join in July 2026. He is currently integration director at NHSE, where he led the coming together of the organisation with NHS Digital and Health Education England.
Adam Sewell-Jones has been announced as the new chief executive at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, taking over the role from Dawn Scrafield.
In November, it was rated as “inadequate” by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission after it found “persistent” safety failures and a poor behavioural culture.
Wes Streeting, health secretary, has appointed Donna Ockenden to lead an independent review into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s maternity and neonatal services.
It follows repeated maternity failures in Leeds, one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe, and the announcement of an independent review in October 2025.
AI-powered proactive care company Doccla has announced the appointments of Michael Macdonnell as deputy chief executive and Dr Jonathan Serjeant as global chief medical officer.
Reset Health, a digital health company delivering end-to-end management of chronic conditions, has announced that Alex Nancekievill has been appointed as group chief technology officer, having initially joined the firm in October 2025 as technology advisor.
Tektology, an international healthcare strategy, digital, and systems-change advisory, has appointed David Nicholson from its Australian practice as its global chief executive.
