Leicestershire Mental Health Service trust has appointed John Boyington (above) as chief executive. A general and psychiatric nurse, he has been on secondment to the top post at the trust for the past six months and has been formally appointed to take charge until decisions are made about a merger with Fosse Health trust in 1999. Before his secondment, Mr Boyington worked at the Department of Health, leading the development of funding for the 13 dental hospitals in England, Scotland and Wales.

Duncan Selbie, acting chief executive of Pathfinder Mental Health Services trust, has been appointed to the post officially. He was previously the trust's operations director.

Chief executive of East Surrey Priority Care trust Don Marquis has been appointed project director/acting chief executive designate for the proposed merger between East Surrey and Surrey Heartlands trust.

Tricia Hart has left her post as general manager/chief nurse at York Health Services trust to become nursing director at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospital trust.

South Tees Community & Mental Health trust has a new mental health services director. Nigel Maguire moves from the State Hospital Carstairs in Glasgow, where he was nursing and patient services director.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital trust in Harlow has a new chair. Martin Lawn, a Labour councillor for 17 years, was a senior executive in an information technology firm and formerly deputy chief executive and finance director for the then Essex family health services authority. Mr Lawn succeeds Peter Brighton, who resigned for family health reasons.

Steve Hill, director of health and social care specialists Advance Consulting Ltd, has taken over as chair of Forest Healthcare trust in London from Lord Jenkin.

Preston Acute Hospitals trust has appointed a new chair. Brian Booth is vice-chancellor of Central Lancashire University, a local magistrate and patron of Preston-based charity Heartbeat.

John Mullin, public affairs director with a communications group and non-executive director of Argyll and Clyde health board, and Donald McNeill, previously chief executive of South Ayrshire Hospitals trust, have been appointed members of the Accounts Commission for Scotland for a period of three years. Marcia Campbell has been re-appointed as a member.

School teacher Zoe Sellers has joined Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital trust as the first local employment and education co-ordinator in the NHS in a bid to improve local knowledge of career opportunities in hospitals. Ms Sellers previously worked in the training department of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux.