Three of the ten current Chief Executives of NHS Ambulance Trusts in England have been included on the Health Service Journal’s prestigious annual ‘HSJ Top 50 NHS CEOs’ list, published today (20 March 2023).
It is believed to be the first time that three ambulance trust chief executives have been included on the list in the same year.
They include the current Chair of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) and North West Ambulance Service CEO Daren Mochrie, alongside Daniel Elkeles of London Ambulance Service and Siobhan Melia, who is currently seconded to South East Coast Ambulance Service.
The new number one on this year’s list is Angela Hillery, CEO of Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust and Leicestershire Partnership Trust. She is only the second woman to take the top spot and the third consecutive mental health trust chief executive to top the poll.
Anna Parry, Deputy Managing Director of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives said:
It is particularly satisfying to see three of the leaders of the ten English NHS ambulance trusts being included on this year’s Top 50 list, reflecting the central role ambulance services play within the NHS and highlighting how senior ambulance leaders are crucial in achieving genuine collaboration within local health and care systems.
The HSJ itself noted:
Where once a chief executive could legitimately consider his or herself to be in direct competition with other local colleagues, now the ability to collaborate and form relationships is central. That requires a different skillset to the one that might previously have enabled a career to flourish.
HSJ’s ranking of the NHS’s top 50 provider trust CEOs launched in 2014. It is judged every year by a panel of senior and respected healthcare leaders. This year’s judges included Health Education England CEO Navina Evans, NHS Providers CEO Sir Julian Hartley, NHS England chief operating officer Sir David Sloman, and Donna Ockenden, chair of the independent review into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust.
The full list can be accessed here: https://guides.hsj.co.uk/6076.guide.
