Leading clinicians from across the health service have been appointed to new national clinical roles to help lead action on challenges facing patients and staff post-pandemic.
The five new clinical leads – covering urgent and emergency care, elective care and long Covid – will provide expert advice to Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS Medical Director, and to the programme teams working to support local NHS teams improve services for patients in these areas.
Professor Julian Redhead has been appointed National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care, and will be responsible for helping the NHS to continue to improve 999, 111, A&E and other urgent care services, at the same time as the service faces record levels of pressure off the back of the pandemic.
Joint National Clinical Directors, Stella Vig and Ian Eardley have also been appointed for Elective Care, bringing a combined 60 years of experience to the NHS’s efforts to tackle the coronavirus backlog for non-urgent treatment.
The NHS’s first ever national specialty adviser roles for long Covid have also been created to help the NHS meet new demand for ongoing care from people suffering long-term effects from the virus. The appointments are for Dr Melissa Heightman, Dr Graham Burns and Dr Kiren Collison.
Powis said: “The fact that the NHS was able to respond so well to the greatest public health emergency in its history is in large part because of our ability to draw on an unrivalled wealth of clinical experience, expertise and enterprise – right the way from ward to board levels.
“So, as the NHS works hard to tackle the Covid backlog for non-urgent care, safely treat all those needing urgent and emergency care, and address the new challenge of long Covid, I am delighted to welcome five senior clinicians to help lead this vital work.
“All of my new colleagues bring with them a wealth of experience and a strong track record of leading improvements in care and treatment for patients at a national level, and I know they are all eager to build on this in their new roles.”
