Movers and Shakers news roundup

This Movers and Shakers roundup features two significant departures from NHS England and the appointment of a chief executive of the Health Data Research Service.

Ming Tang¸ interim chief digital and information officer (CDIO) at NHS England, announced that she will leave her role in April.

In an internal mail to staff, Tang, who also holds the role of chief data and analytics officer, said that after 16 years at NHSE “the time feels right for me to take some time out before embarking on a new challenge”.

In another significant departure from NHS England, Sonia Patel, chief technology officer (CTO), is departing in March 2026 to take up the position of interim government CTO for a fixed 12-month term.

Patel joined NHSX in 2020 as national chief information Officer (CIO) for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and went on to become System CIO following the merger of NHSX into NHS England, before taking on the CTO role.

Dr Melanie Ivarsson has been appointed chief executive of the Health Data Research Service, which is backed by up to £600 million in funding from the government and Wellcome.

Dr Ivarsson previously led the clinical trials that produced one of the world’s first Covid-19 vaccines at Moderna.

She has also held senior roles at pharmaceutical firms Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Takeda and has a strong research background, conducting post-doctoral research at New York University in the US and Lund University in Sweden.

The DHSC has appointed Fiona Bridge, director of medicines value and access and acting chief commercial officer at NHS England, as its interim director general to run its commercial and growth directorate until July 2026.

Julian Kelly has been appointed as chief strategy and transformation officer at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Kelly was chief financial officer and deputy chief executive at NHS England before leaving in spring 2025.

Ged Murphy will retire at the end of July 2026 after five years at East Cheshire NHS Trust, which runs Macclesfield District General Hospital. He has led the trust as substantive chief executive since 2022, after serving on an interim basis and a short stint as finance director.

Katie Fisher, current chief executive at South West London Integrated Care Board (ICB), has been appointed interim chief executive of the new West and North London ICB on a nine-month secondment.

Karen Howell will step down as chief executive at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust in June 2026, two years after she joined.

Steve Moore, chief executive at Devon ICB, stepped down from his role at the end of January. He joined two years ago, and prior to that had been chief executive at Hywel Dda University Health Board in Wales since January 2015.

David French, who became chief executive at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust in November 2020, will leave his post in July

Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust sacked its medical director Tim Noble with immediate effect last month. The trust said the “employment relationship had broken down irreparably”.

Noble had been excluded from his role since September 2024 and has been in dispute with the trust, amid allegations of bullying at the organisation.

Sir Ciarán Devane has been appointed chief executive of the new body that will be formed by a merger of the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers.

He has chaired Ireland’s Health Service Executive since 2019 and has also led Coventry University’s Centre for Peace and Security since 2021.

Grant Macdonald, chief executive at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, will leave the trust at the end of September after three years in the role. He is retiring after nearly four decades in the NHS.