NHS England and NHS Improvement have appointed Dr Timothy Ferris as Director of Transformation.

Ferris, who has served as a non-executive director of NHS Improvement for almost three years, is internationally renowned for his pioneering work on improving health and care in both hospital and community settings. He will now lead the new Transformation Directorate, bringing together the organisation’s operational improvement team and NHSX, the digital arm, to maintain the pace of innovation seen during the pandemic.

Ferris said: “The NHS and its staff have responded magnificently to the COVID-19 pandemic and I’m proud and excited to take up this role as the health service integrates convenient yet cutting-edge technology into patient care. The successful NHS vaccine programme and development of new therapies for Covid-19 has shown that the NHS can be hugely agile and innovative. I look forward to playing my part in ensuring that the NHS continues to stay at the forefront of developing and adopting new technologies and treatments to improve health and treatment.”

Welcoming the appointment, NHS England chair Lord David Prior said: “The NHS has some of the most impressive and talented people in the world, and Dr Ferris has already shown as one of our NHS non-executive directors a passion for all that is best about our health service, as well as a global track record of driving practical change for the benefit of patients and communities.”