Although the appointments do not officially begin until 3 October, NHS North of England chief executive (designate) Ian Dalton can now announce his appointed senior executive team as follows:

Board members with voting rights:

• Chief operating officer: Richard Barker

• Chief nurse: Jane Cummings

• Director of finance: Mark Ogden

• Medical director: Professor Stephen Singleton

Board members with non voting rights:

• Director of workforce and education: Tim Gilpin

• Cluster director of public health: Professor Paul Johnstone

Ian Dalton says “I am delighted to have been able to appoint this strong and able team. We were very fortunate in the north to have such an experienced field of candidates to select from. We will first meet as an executive team on 3 October 2011 and I look forward to working with such a capable team to lead the NHS in the North of England through transition.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Executive appointment biographies:

Chief operating officer: Richard Barker

Richard joins the cluster team from NHS North East where he was the director of commissioning development. He was one of the ten regional development commissioners appointed to lead the NHS through the transition phase.

His previous roles also included chief operating officer for NHS South of Tyne and Wear. This followed ten years as an executive director within Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals. He commenced NHS management in 1984 and his previous career has included senior roles with a regional health authority, district health authority and in hospital management.

Chief nurse: Jane Cummings

Jane joins the cluster team from NHS North West where she was chief nurse and deputy chief executive. Jane began her career as a nurse specialising in emergency care before moving into general management. Jane was the nursing advisor for emergency care in chief nursing officer’s office before becoming the national lead for emergency care in February 2004. In January 2005, Jane was appointed as the national implementation director for choice and Choose and Book, another key priority for the Department of Health.

Jane is also the national lead for the Energise for Excellence programme, which provides a coherent framework to motivate nursing staff to improve quality and reduce costs. She is also the senior responsible officer for the clinical leader’s network in the north west and a member of the national steering group.

Director of finance: Mark Ogden

Mark joins the cluster team from NHS North West where he was the interim chief executive (CE). Prior to his CE appointment Mark was the director of finance, capital and economic reform. Before this, he had been director of finance capital investment and information management and technology for Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority.

He began his career in local government, spending five years at Salford City Council in the social services and recreation departments. It was there that he qualified as an accountant before becoming a management consultant with Coopers Lybrand. He worked for the north west outpost of the NHS Executive for 18 months before becoming finance director for Rochdale Healthcare NHS Trust from 1993 to 1998 and then at Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust.

Medical director: Professor Stephen Singleton

Professor Stephen Singleton joins the cluster team from NHS North East where he was the medical director, director of performance and chief knowledge officer.

As a former rural GP and director of public health in Northumberland Stephen has been medical director of NHS North East since its inception, previously being in the post for the former Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority. Stephen has a long term interest in knowledge management and until very recently was vice chair of the NHS Evidence Advisory Board (NICE).

He is a visiting professor of applied epidemiology in the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University and has research interests in quality, safety, medical education and informatics.

Director of workforce and education: Tim Gilpin

Tim joins the cluster team from NHS Yorkshire & the Humber where he was the director of human resources. Tim has over 25 years experience of human resource management within the NHS. He has been a director of human resources in a variety of NHS organisations including mental health, community and acute services.
His last post was a director of human resources at Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority and prior to this he was director of human resources at Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s University Hospitals NHS Trust for five years.

Cluster director of public health: Professor Paul Johnstone

Paul joins the cluster team from NHS Yorkshire & the Humber where he was the director of public health since 2002. Since joining the NHS in 1983, Paul has worked as a hospital doctor, GP and as a manager. He has worked in a number of developing countries with experience in refugee camps convincing him of a need for a managed approach to public health. In 1993 he trained in public health at Oxford and London, and worked for the Cochrane Collaboration and Oxford University as honorary senior lecturer. In 1999 Paul became the first director of public health in Teesside.

Photographs can be made available on request.

• For further information please contact Liz Davies - 0191 210 6482