Toby Sanders appointment Designate Chief Executive
Following a robust process, NHS England and NHS Improvement have recommended that Toby Sanders is the new Designate Chief Executive of Northamptonshire’s Integrated Care Board (ICB), ready to take up the post in April 2022 as part of our transition to full Integrated Care System (ICS) status, subject to government legislation.
As Chief Executive of NHS Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Executive Lead of Northamptonshire Health and Care Partnership, Toby has consistently proved himself to be an experienced leader who can operate with real energy to lead system partners to create a fully mature, thriving ICS with a strong place-based approach to delivery and local commissioning. I have every confidence that his experience of driving forward the transformation of health and care services across our county will be key in our work of securing the provision of comprehensive, fit-for-purpose services for the people of Northamptonshire.
The Health and Care Bill 2021, which contains a series of measures to formally establish Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), is currently at Committee Stage in Parliament receiving a detailed examination following its second reading.
The Bill will put ICSs on a firm statutory footing, and here in Northamptonshire will formalise our existing local partnership approach to better join up health and care, improve population health and reduce health inequalities.
Our ICB will hold a substantial budget for commissioning high-quality patient care and have the authority to establish performance arrangements to ensure this is delivered.
A key element of preparing for legislation to take effect is confirming who would take up senior roles within each ICB. This started with my appointment as the ICB Chair Designate and continues with today’s announcement regarding the Designate Chief Executive, responsible for NHS budgets and functions, and for working with our full range of partners and local communities to improve services and the health of those we all serve.
Reflecting on his appointment, Toby said: “I am delighted to have been appointed as the Designate Chief Executive for Northamptonshire’s ICB. I believe working together across health and care as an integrated system gives us a real opportunity to make a positive difference to people’s lives in terms of their health outcomes and experience of care.
I’m looking forward to being able to build on the positive relationships between partners that have been strengthened over the last 20 months and to accelerate the development of our local collaborative and place arrangements as the basis of how we will work together to deliver care going forward.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the hard-working health and care staff who are the backbone of our local system and without whom we could not do what we do.
Our local NHS Chairs and the leaders of Northamptonshire’s two unitary councils have offered their congratulations to Toby on his appointment. You can read their comments in the online version of this announcement on the NHCP website.
I am sure, like me, you will look forward to continuing to work with Toby and other colleagues on improving care for the people of Northamptonshire.
The next step will be to recruit Non-Executive Members and Executive Directors to the ICB over the coming weeks and we will keep you informed as this work progresses.
While getting our structures and governance right is crucial, integrated care is about practical, real improvements to care and population health. We thank you for your continued effort to make integrated care a reality, and I will keep you updated as preparations for statutory footing continue.