National Improvement Board chair and deputy chair​

NHS England is delighted to announce the appointment of David Fillingham CBE as Chair and Professor Andy Hardy as Deputy Chair of the newly established National Improvement Board to underpin the ongoing work of NHS IMPACT.​

David and Andy will take up their positions on the National Improvement Board from September, where they will lead and support the identification and delivery of national improvement priorities in line with NHS IMPACT and associated improvement approaches.

Collectively the Board will set the direction of system wide improvement by bringing in the right stakeholders to achieve our shared aims through collaboration and co-design.​

David joined the NHS in 1989 after working in manufacturing. He held several chief executive positions and served as the Director of the NHS Modernisation Agency from 2001 to 2004, where he focused on developing new practices and fostering leadership development across the NHS. He received a CBE for his contributions.

In 2010, David became the National NHS Quality Champion and later retired from the NHS in June 2019 after serving as the Chief Executive of AQuA. Additionally, he held various non-executive roles and served as a visiting Senior Fellow at The King’s Fund. David has particular interests in quality improvement, leadership development, co-production with the users of services and partnership working. ​

Andy was appointed Chief Executive Officer of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust in 2010. For the six years prior to that he was Chief Finance Officer of UHCW, as well as Deputy Chief Executive Officer from 2008-2010.

In January 2016 Andy was appointed Professor of Industry at the University of Warwick and in 2022 awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration at Coventry University in recognition of his leadership and significant contribution to healthcare provision across Coventry and Warwickshire. In April 2023 he accepted the appointment of Professor for the Vice Chancellor’s Health Advisory Board, Coventry University.​

To support the work of the National Improvement Board, NHS England is now seeking an Improvement Director and National Clinical Director to support the identification and delivery of national improvement priorities in line with NHS IMPACT and associated improvement approaches. Recruitment for these roles closed on 22 August.

NHS England Vin Diwakar, Senior Responsible Officer NHS IMPACT and Medical Director for Secondary Care and Transformation said: “I’m delighted to announce the appointment of two highly regarded improvement leaders to our Board.

“They bring with them a wealth of continuous improvement experience and knowledge. I am very much looking forward to working alongside them, embedding the NHS Improving Patient Care Together approach to tackle the things that matter to the NHS, matter to our staff and matter to our patients.

“These key appointments will help our ambition to create the context and conditions in which organisations including NHS England, systems and providers can work collaboratively to improve patient care together.