Movers and Shakers news roundup
Our latest Movers and Shakers roundup includes the departures of Joe Harrison and Dr Vin Diwakar from NHS England and Matthew Taylor stepping down as chief executive of NHS Confederation. Joe Harrison has announced that he is leaving his part-time role as director of digital channels at NHS England, where he led the development of the NHS App. He has held the role since January 2023 but will now return to a full-time position as chief executive of Milton Keynes University Hospital Trust. Matthew Taylor is standing down as chief executive of NHS Confederation from April 2026. He has been in the role since June 2021 and has been an influential voice on major policy developments throughout his tenure, such as the legal establishment of Integrated Care Boards, the publication of the NHS 10 year health plan and the recent Spending Review. Dr Vin Diwakar will step down as national clinical transformation director at NHS England to join Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust as joint chief medical officer. Alistair Reid-Pearson announced on LinkedIn earlier this month that he has joined Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust as chief digital information officer. “I’ve had such a warm welcome already, and I’m looking forward to getting started. Watch this space. It’s about to get interesting,” he posted to his LinkedIn followers. Tim Kelsey is joining Hunter Healthcare as managing director of health services. He was most recently chief executive of Beamtree, an Australian firm which pioneers applications of AI and data science to drive improvement in patient safety and value outcomes in healthcare. Prior to Beamtree, he designed and implemented national digital health strategies in two countries – in Australia as chief executive of the Australian Digital Health Agency and in England, as NHS national director for patients and information. The chief executive of South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, Gavin Boyle, has announced he will retire next month. He has headed up the commissioner since 2022 and will step down in mid-October after 18 years in NHS executive roles. The government has appointed surgeon Zubir Ahmed as a junior minister in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). With no ministers leaving the DHSC team, Ahmed increases the total number to six. He was appointed as a parliamentary under-secretary of state last weekend, as part of the reshuffle that began on 6 September 2025 after the resignation of Angela Rayner. Matthew Hartland, who has been interim chief executive of The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital Trust for almost a year, will become substantive chief executive in October 2025, the trust has confirmed. Professor Ian Abbs, outgoing chief executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, is joining University College London’s Global Business School for Health as chair of its external advisory board. Amanda Pritchard, former chief executive of NHS England, has started as chief executive at Guy’s and St Thomas’, following a formal handover from Abbs on 5 September 2025. Alcidion has announced the addition of three new appointments to its UK-based team, with one internal promotion and two external recruits. Dr Paul Deffley has been announced as the UK managing director, with Tracy McClelland and Darren Ransley joining as global chief clinical information officer and chief revenue officer, respectively. Two trusts have announced the appointment of “the youngest non-executive director in the NHS”. Haris Sultan, 23, has been appointed to the joint role at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust. It comes as the two providers are in the process of integration to become on organisation.