First three ICS chief executives announced

Dorset; Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon & Wiltshire; and Gloucestershire ICSs are the first systems to announce their CEOs.

Two of the recruits are trust chief executives and are not currently ICS executive leads.

More are expected across the country imminently, although it is understood that a substantial minority of ICBs have failed to appoint a CEO and will need to recruit again.  

The new CEOs are “chief executive designates”, and will be confirmed as the CEO of the ICB if the Health and Social Care Bill is passed by Parliament. ICBs will be the part of ICSs which will make most executive decisions and will control NHS resources, including taking on the functions of clinical commissioning groups. 

Current CEO of Solent Trust Sue Harriman will join BaNESSW from February. She has led Solent for seven years and in February this year she was seconded to the covid-19 vaccination deployment programme as chief operating officer for six months. Ms Harriman will take over from senior responsible officer for BSW Tracey Cox.

Patricia Miller, who has been CEO of Dorset County Hospital Foundation Trust for seven years, will take the helm at Dorset ICS. She will take over from the current leader Tim Goodson who has led the development of the ICS and previously sustainability and transformation partnership since they began, as the Dorset CCG chief executive.

The current executive lead of the One Gloucestershire ICS, Mary Hutton, will take on the chief executive role for the system. She has led the ICS since 2018 and has been accountable officer of Gloucestershire CCG since April 2013.

CCGs will be abolished, and commissioning duties will be taken on by integrated care boards if the health and social care bill is approved as planned in April next year. The CEO roles will replace the ICS leads which the majority of systems have in place, some of which were only recruited recently.

Recruitment for the 42 ICS CEO roles started in the autumn, run by NHS England. The appointments will be made formally by an ICS integrated care board chair if they are made statutory in April.

The advertised salaries ranged from “up to £270,000” for ICSs including Greater Manchester, North West London, and Sussex; up to £240,000 for ICSs including Kent and Medway, Birmingham and Solihull and Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West; and down to £197,500 for others, including Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, and Frimley.