NHS England CEO Simon Stevens is today announcing a number of senior appointments to the organisation.

Dr Mahiben Maruthappu has been appointed to the chief executive’s office, as the first member of a new programme providing opportunities for early and mid-career clinicians and managers to work on national strategy and operations. Dr Maruthappu is an Academic Foundation Doctor at Imperial College London and former Kennedy Scholar in Health Policy at Harvard University. These fellowship opportunities are advertised on the NHS jobs website, and further appointments will be announced on a rolling basis.

Ian Dodge has been appointed to NHS England’s Board as National Director, Commissioning Strategy, following open competition. Ian fills the vacant post created by the departure of Bill McCarthy, and his responsibilities will include leading the organisation’s work on national strategy, commissioning policy and analysis. He will take up post on 7th July, joining NHS England from the Department of Health, where he is the Director of the NHS Group and head of the policy profession.

Jo Lenaghan, Director of Strategy and Workforce Planning at Health Education England will take up a part-time four month secondment as Project Director for the NHS 5 year Forward View, alongside her continuing role as a Director of HEE. A key element of Jo’s work will be to ensure wider NHS system engagement in the Forward View project. Jo will start her secondment on 7th July.

Andrew Ridley, Managing Director of North and East London Commissioning Support Unit will take up a secondment as Programme Director for the Better Care Fund. He will lead a small team drawn from NHS England, the Department of Health, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Local Government Association. Andrew will take up his new role on 7th July.