Dr Mark Hayes Chief Clinical Officer

About me

Mark is a GenerationQ Fellow and Chief Clinical Officer at NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group.

Mark studied medicine at the University of Sheffield, graduating in 1981. He went on to complete his GP training in the area and after spending a winter working in Newfoundland, Canada, he settled into practice in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, in 1987.

Over the years Mark has combined his GP work with management roles in local health organisations. He was chairman of Selby Primary Care Group, which went on to become Selby and York Primary Care Trust, and has been an elected member of the North Yorkshire Local Medical Committee.

Mark was a founding member of the York Health Group practice based commissioning consortium and he chaired the board from 2010-11. He was instrumental in the creation of the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group in 2010 and took up his current position there the following year.

Mark says that the GenerationQ fellowship has given him a deep understanding of change and quality improvement. 'The programme has been an oasis, giving me thinking space and support to grow and develop as a leader. I use my new knowledge and skills every day, whether it’s applying a particular improvement methodology or considering how best way engage people when I’m chairing a meeting.'

GenerationQ gave Mark an opportunity to explore an idea he had for transforming the local health improvement landscape. 'I’ve long been interested in the approach taken in the Jönköping region of Sweden, where the county council runs a centre for health care improvement and innovation called ‘Qulturum’.

Anyone who works in health and social care can approach Qulturum with an idea for improvement and ask for support to deliver it. The individual doesn’t need to have any prior experience of improvement work – it’s all evaluated on the impact that the idea could have on the quality of patient care.

'I arranged a visit to Jönköping for myself and some colleagues and then developed a proposal for taking a similar approach here in the Vale of York. The chief executives of the local authority and hospital trust have given their go-ahead for the project, and it also has support from the University of York. I’m really excited about the potential for improvement to flourish from the bottom up, with frontline teams coming up with ideas and driving change themselves.'