NHS England director set to leave for senior DHSC job

Director of strategic finance Matthew Style is lined up to replace Lee McDonough, who left her £130,000-a-year post at DHSC last month to become DG for “net zero strategy and international” at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, several sources said.

Mr Style has been closely involved in several major projects at NHSE in recent years, including the development of the NHS long term plan; funding bids and negotiation with government; and new NHS payment systems and financial architecture.

He joined NHSE in 2017 from the Department for Communities and Local Government having previously been deputy director for health in the public services section of HM Treasury.

Ms McDonough’s title is DHSC director general for NHS policy and performance, and she leads much of the DHSC’s work on the NHS, including workforce issues. It is unclear whether Mr Style will take on exactly the same title and portfolio.

The appointment to the DHSC comes as Shona Dunn has recently taken over as the department’s second permanent secretary from David Williams, who was responsible for finances and has become Ministry of Defence permanent secretary.

Meanwhile, NHSE has appointed Peter Ridley to replace Sandra Easton as deputy chief financial officer for operational finance. Ms Easton left NHSE in July to become senior finance director at Johnson & Johnson medical devices companies.

Mr Ridley has been chief finance and compliance officer at the Royal Free London Group since 2018 having been group director of strategy and performance at the trust since 2016.

Mr Style played a key role in designing the various payment and incentive systems which have been in place since the start of the pandemic. Trusts were all put on block contracts last year, in a system which has largely remained in place in 2021-22.

An incentive scheme for elective care was introduced last year, but was made largely irrelevant when the NHS was hit by a large second wave of coronavirus.

A similar scheme was again outlined earlier this year, offering additional funding for those trusts which could recover services more quickly. However, NHS England later changed the thresholds, requiring systems to carry out more work in order to earn the funds, attracting criticism from some local leaders.

DHSC declined to comment.