Sir David Sloman has been chosen to become NHS England’s Chief Operating Officer for an interim period after a recruitment process failed to find a substantive appointment. Since the previous COO Amanda Pritchard was promoted to Chief Executive in August, Mark Cubbon has acted as interim COO.
Sir David has been in the post of NHS England’s London director, and this will be filled by trust chief executive until his return. Sir David has been London regional director since 2019 and was before that chief executive of the Royal Free London Foundation Trust.
It is not known how many applicants were interviewed for the NHS COO role during the process until now, nor is it confirmed how long Sir David will be occupying the role. When the recruitment process will be repeated to find a permanent appointee has not been specified either.
As a result of this interim appointment, three of NHSE’s most senior executives — chief executive, medical director and chief operating officer — have recently worked at large London teaching hospitals.
