David joined the Health Foundation as a Governor in January 2014. He has been a Chief Executive in the NHS for 20 years, with 13 of these at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust. He has a prominent profile, both locally within Greater Manchester, and nationally in the areas of quality improvement and patient safety.
Under David's leadership, Salford Royal set out its clear ambition to be the safest organisation in the NHS and has adopted a disciplined approach of applied 'improvement science' coupled with deep staff involvement.
David’s other interest is in sustaining an organisational culture which delivers high reliability of clinical standards. This has included supporting clinical leaders and creating a new framework for aligning an individual’s contribution to the goals and values of the organisation.
David chairs NHS QUEST, a network organisation of NHS foundation trusts, which aims to achieve unprecedented levels of quality improvement. He is also Vice Chair of the Greater Manchester Academic Health Science Network, which aims to improve health through better adoption of evidence of best practice.
David received his knighthood in the New Year’s Honours List 2014 for his services to the NHS.
David has been chosen by the Secretary of State for Health, the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, to lead the Dalton Review, a review of how leading NHS hospitals can expand their reach to benefit more patients.
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