Graeme Betts has been appointed chief executive of Hillingdon primary care trust.He is currently London borough of Hillingdon director of social services and has been on secondment as acting PCT chief executive since last month.He has worked in social services departments in Coventry and other London boroughs.Mr Betts replaces David Panter, who is now chief executive of Brighton and Hove council.

Marie Leafhead has joined East and West Surrey health authorities as director of organisational development, on secondment until 2002. She will be assisting HA chief executives introducing primary care trusts, strategic health authorities, developing mental health trusts and the dissolution of the two HAs. She has worked as director of community services and organisational development at Sussex Weald and Downs trust.

Dianne Jeffrey has been appointed chair of High Peak and Dales primary care trust, which comes into being in April 2002 after a merger of parts of Community Health Care Services (North Derbyshire) trust and High Peak and Dales primary care group.

She is currently chair of the community trust, and chair of the NHS Confederation.

Brent, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster Mental Health trust chair is to be Dame Ruth Runciman.She will hold the position for four years, from next month.She has previously worked as a local outreach worker and was a former chair of the Mental Health Act Commission.

The new chair of Oxleas trust is David Mellish, former chief constable of Northumbria Police.He succeeds Dr Norbert Singer, who retired at the end of last month.

Steve Crone has been appointed chief executive of Quit, a charity for smokers who want to stop.He was previously director of services for the charity, having worked in the voluntary sector for 18 years.

Hilary Samson-Barry, who had worked in the NHS and Department of Health since the early 1990s, and most recently for the Greater London Authority, has been appointed deputy director at the Cabinet Officebased women and equality unit.