Former Labour health secretary turns down top NHS roles to join estates firm

Mr Johnson will become joint chair of Citycare and Shared Agenda, a public-private partnership managing NHS transformation projects in Yorkshire and the North East.

HSJ understands Mr Johnson, who was health secretary between 2007 and 2009, was offered national positions as well as the role as chair of a trust following his decision to quit politics before the general election in May.

Speaking with HSJ, Mr Johnson declined to be drawn on which NHS offers were on the table.

However, NHS Improvement has been looking for a replacement for chair Ed Smith, who announced in March he was retiring a year ahead of schedule. Public Health England currently has an interim chair.

Mr Johnson said: “I had lots of offers, including in the NHS, all of which I rejected either because they would take me back into areas I didn’t want or I would still be doing political stuff on my old patch.

“That wouldn’t have been fair on my successor, Emma Hardy [the new MP for Hull West and Hessle]. I didn’t want to be poncing around in the background.”

Mr Johnson was approached by Citycare and Shared Agenda after announcing in April he was stepping down as MP for Hull West and Hessle, the seat he held from 1997.

Citycare was set up 13 years ago to transform the health estate in Hull and is one of the 49 LIFT companies responsible for £2.5bn of investment in more than 300 new buildings around the country. Its sister company Shared Agenda was set up in 2013 to transform NHS, local authority and emergency service estates across Yorkshire and the North East.

Mr Johnson said management of the NHS estate had entered the political arena following the publication of the Naylor report.

Last week, HSJ revealed the government is poised to strike deals creating six regional PPPs to unlock billions of pounds from the sale of unwanted NHS property and land.

Mr Johnson said: “The Naylor report opens up more opportunities to have the kind of health service that was part of the original Nye Bevan vision.

“It’s not just about health centres already built, it’s about how health centres could be better utilised and that really appeals to me – so what CityCare is doing is important to me.”

Mr Johnson said he is completing his next book and was preparing for fresh challenges after politics.

He said: “It will be a challenge being in a completely new sector and it is a different world for me.”

Jo Barnes, chief executive of Citycare and managing director of Shared Agenda, confirmed Mr Johnson would chair both companies.