50 Essential Thought Leaders in NHS and Healthcare Leadership UK

If you are searching for the best thought leaders in NHS and healthcare leadership in the UK, you have landed on the right page. The National Health Service remains one of the most complex leadership environments on earth. Leading in the NHS means navigating workforce pressures, financial constraints, patient safety imperatives, digital transformation, and the demands of an evolving 10 Year Health Plan, all simultaneously, at scale, and with every decision carrying consequences for real people. The voices shaping this conversation in 2026 are not only the most senior executives in the system. They are researchers, clinical leaders, policy architects, digital innovators, and equity advocates who together form the intellectual backbone of how the NHS understands and develops leadership.

This list was compiled to surface 50 voices who are making a genuine contribution to NHS and healthcare leadership thinking in the UK. The selection deliberately moved past the most prominent household names to include mid-tier practitioners, researchers, and policy voices whose work is shaping how the NHS develops, deploys, and evaluates its leaders. Every person on this list was selected because of their published, verified contribution to the field and their active engagement with the ideas, not simply because of the seniority of their title.

The scale of the challenge these leaders are working within is significant. The NHS employs approximately 1.3 million staff in England alone, making it one of the largest employers in the world. Research by Professor Michael West and colleagues has demonstrated that leadership quality is the single most important factor shaping organisational culture in NHS trusts, with direct measurable effects on staff wellbeing, patient mortality, and patient satisfaction. Yet leadership churn remains a persistent problem, with over half of NHS executive directors holding tenure of under three years and a median tenure of just two years.

The 2022 Messenger Review by Sir Gordon Messenger and Dame Linda Pollard identified that NHS leadership development remained fragmented, with multiple competency frameworks and unevenly defined standards varying widely across the system. In response, the 2025 NHS Management and Leadership Framework has begun to address this, establishing standards from first-line manager to board level. The 10 Year Health Plan published in July 2025 committed to establishing a new College of Executive and Clinical Leadership, with launch anticipated in April 2026.

Jonno White is a Brisbane-based leadership consultant and Certified Working Genius Facilitator who works globally with organisations on leadership development, team building, and difficult conversations. He can be engaged for keynotes, Working Genius workshops, and executive offsite facilitation at jonno@consultclarity.org.

Why NHS Leadership Matters: The Stakes

The NHS is under pressure unlike anything it has experienced since its founding in 1948. The post-pandemic elective backlog, workforce shortages that pre-date the pandemic, rising demand from an ageing population, financial deficits running into billions of pounds, and a digital transformation agenda that is ambitious but unevenly resourced have combined to create a leadership environment of extraordinary complexity. Michael West's research has demonstrated consistently that in NHS organisations where compassionate leadership is absent, staff report significantly higher work overload, lower influence over decision-making, and worse patient outcomes.

The NHS Staff Survey data reinforces this. More than 50 percent of NHS staff have consistently reported being unable to meet all the conflicting demands placed on them at work. Organisations where leadership is rated poorly by staff show predictably worse performance across quality, safety, and financial metrics. This is not a soft observation. It is a hard evidence base that the most credible researchers in the field have built over decades, and it underpins why the voices on this list matter.

What is often missed in conversations about NHS performance is that the system is not failing for lack of effort from frontline staff. It is under strain because the conditions that allow leaders to lead, and staff to perform at their best, have been systematically eroded. The 50 voices in this directory are engaged in the work of rebuilding those conditions: developing compassionate and inclusive cultures, building leadership capability at every level, shaping the policies that govern how leaders are trained and held accountable, and advocating for the workforce without which no leadership strategy makes any difference.

For any organisation that works with NHS leaders or is considering bringing in external expertise for leadership development, team effectiveness, or strategic facilitation, Jonno White's Working Genius workshops and executive offsite programmes have been delivered for organisations across the UK and globally. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to explore what is possible.

How This List Was Compiled

Every person on this list was selected on three criteria. First, a documented, verified contribution to NHS or healthcare leadership thinking in the UK through published work, delivered programmes, research, or national policy. Second, active engagement with the leadership conversation through LinkedIn, public writing, conference participation, or institutional leadership. Third, deliberate inclusion of voices across disciplines, career stages, and backgrounds to reflect the full diversity of the NHS leadership ecosystem. The list moved past the most-cited household names to include researchers, clinical leaders, digital innovators, and equity advocates who represent where the real thinking is happening in 2026.

Category 1: System Architects and National Leaders

The six people in this category hold or have held the most senior national leadership roles in the NHS. They are the architects of the structural and policy frameworks within which all other NHS leadership happens. Their decisions shape the environment for the 1.3 million people who deliver care.

1. Sir James Mackey, Chief Executive, NHS England

Sir James Mackey became Chief Executive of NHS England on 1 April 2025, taking on the most senior operational leadership role in the English NHS at one of the most pressured moments in the organisation's history. A former chief executive of Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust, Mackey brings a reputation as a straight-talking turnaround leader with deep operational credibility. His stated priorities for NHS England centre on financial recovery, elective care backlog reduction, and a significant restructuring of NHS England's relationship with the Department of Health and Social Care.

Mackey's thinking on NHS leadership emphasises clear accountability, clinical engagement, and the importance of moving resources from central bureaucracy to the frontline. He has spoken publicly about the need for NHS leaders to operate with both ambition and realism, and is regarded by NHS senior leaders as one of the most trusted and operationally credible NHS chiefs in a generation. His background in delivering tangible operational improvements at trust level, combined with national elective recovery responsibilities, makes him the most influential single voice on NHS operational leadership in 2026.

2. Dame Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Dame Amanda Pritchard served as Chief Executive of NHS England from August 2021 until March 2025, making her the first woman to hold the post in the organisation's history. Her tenure spanned the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the launch of integrated care systems, the publication of the NHS Workforce Strategy, and a period of sustained financial pressure. She now leads Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, the country's largest hospital group.

Pritchard's contribution to NHS leadership thinking is grounded in her consistent advocacy for the workforce, for clinical leadership at every level, and for the importance of diversity in senior NHS roles. In stepping down from NHS England she noted the importance of sustained, long-term investment in leadership development as the single most critical enabler of NHS performance. Her career demonstrates that operational delivery and values-based leadership are not in tension.

3. Dr Penny Dash, Chair, NHS England

Dr Penny Dash was appointed Chair of NHS England in 2024 and has quickly become one of the most consequential voices on NHS quality, safety, and governance. A former McKinsey partner who led the firm's healthcare practice across Europe, and former Vice Chair of The King's Fund, Dash brings a rigorous analytical lens to NHS leadership questions. In 2024 she led a comprehensive review of the Care Quality Commission's operational effectiveness, and in July 2025 she published a wide-ranging review of patient safety across the health and care landscape, identifying a fragmented and inefficient system with more than 20 overlapping patient feedback bodies.

The Dash Review's nine major recommendations are shaping how NHS England is redesigning patient safety oversight. Her ability to synthesise complex system problems and translate them into clear recommendations has made her one of the most substantive thinkers currently operating at the intersection of governance, quality, and NHS leadership.

4. Sir Stephen Powis, Chair, NHS Professionals

Sir Stephen Powis served as National Medical Director of NHS England from January 2018 to July 2025, making him the most senior doctor in the NHS for seven years that included the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHS's largest vaccination programme in history, and a period of unprecedented operational pressure. In April 2026 he was appointed Chair of NHS Professionals, continuing his contribution to NHS leadership from a different vantage point.

As National Medical Director, Powis played a central role in developing NHS clinical quality standards, advancing the cardiovascular disease and stroke prevention programmes, and co-chairing the National Quality Board. His contribution to NHS leadership thinking centres on the relationship between clinical leadership, quality improvement, and staff wellbeing, and his public communications during the pandemic demonstrated a distinctive ability to translate clinical complexity into clear guidance for a national audience.

5. Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England, NHS England

Duncan Burton was appointed Chief Nursing Officer for England in 2023, leading the professional development and strategic direction of nursing and midwifery across the NHS. He previously served as Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, where he led the maternity and neonatal transformation programme and the largest international nurse recruitment programme in NHS history, meeting the government's commitment of 50,000 additional nurses six months ahead of schedule.

Burton's approach to nursing leadership emphasises workforce sustainability, compassionate practice environments, and the critical role of nursing leadership in driving patient safety. His 2025 focus on the interplay between nurse staffing, psychological safety, and patient outcomes draws directly on the evidence base developed by Michael West and colleagues at The King's Fund. He is one of the most active and substantive nursing voices at national level in 2026.

6. Dr Aidan Fowler, Interim Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Care Quality Commission

Dr Aidan Fowler spent years as National Director of Patient Safety at NHS England before moving to his current role as Interim Chief Inspector of Hospitals at the Care Quality Commission. In his NHS England role, Fowler developed the first ever National Patient Safety Strategy for the NHS, a landmark framework that established patient safety as a system-level leadership responsibility rather than an individual clinical one. He presented progress on the strategy at the 2025 HSJ Patient Safety Congress and outlined its alignment with the 10 Year Health Plan's prevention and safety ambitions.

As a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon who moved into quality improvement and then national patient safety leadership, Fowler represents the model of the clinician-leader that the NHS has been trying to build at scale: someone with deep clinical credibility who has channelled that credibility into systemic improvement. His move to the CQC in a senior leadership role continues that trajectory.

Category 2: Think Tank and Policy Architects

These seven people operate primarily through research institutions, independent bodies, and policy organisations. Their work provides the intellectual infrastructure for NHS leadership development and reform.

7. Helen Bevan, Strategic Adviser, NHS Horizons and Warwick Business School

Helen Bevan is the most widely followed NHS improvement and change leadership voice on LinkedIn in the UK, with over 73,000 followers and a Thinkers50 recognition as one of the most influential thinkers in large-scale healthcare change. She spent three decades as an internal change agent within the English NHS before transitioning to an advisory role and a professorship at Warwick Business School. The organisation she founded, NHS Horizons, became a nationally recognised hub for social movement approaches to NHS transformation.

Bevan's most concrete contribution to the field is her work on the NHS Change Day, the largest ever day of collective action for improvement in healthcare, and the School for Change Agents, through which more than 60,000 healthcare professionals have passed. Her framework for thinking about large-scale change, drawing on social movement theory and systems thinking rather than traditional top-down project management, has influenced NHS improvement strategy across the UK and internationally. She reaches more than one million people monthly through her content and curation work.

8. Professor Michael West CBE, Senior Fellow, The King's Fund

Professor Michael West CBE has produced the most comprehensive evidence base in existence linking compassionate leadership to NHS staff wellbeing, patient safety, and care quality. His decades of research at Lancaster University and The King's Fund has demonstrated through large-scale NHS studies that the way leaders treat their teams has direct measurable effects on patient outcomes: trusts with compassionate leadership report higher patient satisfaction, lower staff turnover, and in acute settings, lower patient mortality.

West and Suzie Bailey co-authored the widely cited piece on five myths of compassionate leadership, which is among the most frequently shared resources in NHS leadership development. In 2025 he co-chaired an inquiry into the mental health and wellbeing of nurses and midwives across the UK. His May 2026 keynote at the RCN Foundation webinar on midwifery leadership, where he argued that compassionate leadership is a clinical necessity rather than a luxury, is typical of his continued active engagement with the field.

9. Suzie Bailey, Director of Leadership and Organisational Development, The King's Fund

Suzie Bailey leads the leadership and organisational development function at The King's Fund. She has more than 21 years of experience as an operational leader in NHS acute, community, and mental health settings, and led the creation of the Sheffield Microsystem Coaching Academy before moving to NHS Improvement as Director of Leadership and Quality Improvement. At NHS Improvement she designed and delivered the first national framework for improvement and leadership development in England, working closely with Michael West on culture and leadership.

In November 2025 she co-authored an influential King's Fund long-read arguing that strong, well-trained NHS management is essential to delivering the ambitions of the 10 Year Health Plan. Bailey is one of the most substantive voices on the relationship between NHS culture, organisational development, and sustainable system performance.

10. Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive, The King's Fund

Sarah Woolnough was appointed Chief Executive of The King's Fund in late 2023, bringing a background in Asthma + Lung UK and a 15-year career at Cancer Research UK. Since joining she has overseen development of a new long-term strategy positioning the Fund as an independent charity committed to boldly reimagining a health and care system that is compassionate, equitable, and fit for the future. Her public commentary on NHS policy has been among the most consistently cited in mainstream media.

In July 2025 she responded to the Penny Dash patient safety review, welcoming the commitment to streamlining oversight while noting concerns about the collective patient voice. In December 2025 she described the NHS as deep into a bleak midwinter in response to winter performance data, capturing in precise language the scale of pressure facing NHS leaders. Her voice combines rigorous policy analysis with an accessibility that makes The King's Fund's work genuinely usable for NHS leaders at all levels.

11. Professor Sir Chris Ham, Emeritus Professor of Health Policy, University of Birmingham

Professor Sir Chris Ham was Chief Executive of The King's Fund from 2010 to 2018 and is now Emeritus Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Birmingham's Health Services Management Centre. He remains one of the most active and credible voices in NHS policy, regularly co-authoring with Suzie Bailey and Judith Smith on questions of NHS management, leadership, and reform.

In November 2025 he co-authored the King's Fund long-read on why management matters to the 10 Year Health Plan, arguing that NHS management has been persistently undervalued and that the planned College of Executive and Clinical Leadership must be genuinely independent to have lasting effect. His career spans research, policy advisory roles for the WHO and World Bank, and NHS board membership, and his knighthood in 2018 recognised services to health policy and management over four decades.

12. Professor Judith Smith, Professor of Health Policy, University of Birmingham HSMC

Professor Judith Smith holds a research chair in health policy and management at the University of Birmingham's Health Services Management Centre, one of the UK's leading centres for applied health services research. She regularly publishes on NHS management, commissioning, and system leadership, and in November 2025 was listed as a co-author on the landmark King's Fund paper arguing for the centrality of strong management to NHS reform delivery.

Her work on NHS commissioning reform, integrated care systems, and the competencies required for system-level leadership has been widely cited in government and NHS planning documents. Smith brings the rigour of academic health services research to questions that are intensely practical for NHS leaders, and her collaborative writing with both King's Fund colleagues and NHS practitioners represents the kind of research-practice bridge that the NHS most needs.

13. Matthew Taylor, former Chief Executive, NHS Confederation

Matthew Taylor served as Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation from June 2021 until April 2026, one of the most turbulent periods in NHS history. During his tenure the Confederation strengthened its research and policy output significantly, its podcast series offered accessible analysis of NHS leadership challenges, and its voice in national policy debates became markedly more assertive. He commented publicly on the Penny Dash patient safety review, the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, the Messenger Review, and dozens of other major NHS policy moments.

As Lord Victor Adebowale noted on his departure, the organisation that Matthew left is vastly different to the one he joined. His five years of consistent public leadership thinking make him one of the most documentable voices on NHS system leadership, and his extensive body of work on empowered local leadership, system working, and health inequalities remains a reference point for NHS leaders and policy audiences alike.

Category 3: Compassionate and Inclusive Leadership

These seven leaders have made equity, diversity, inclusion, and compassionate culture their primary leadership contribution. They represent voices that are reshaping what NHS leadership looks like and who it must represent.

14. Lord Victor Adebowale, Chair, NHS Confederation

Lord Victor Adebowale has served as Chair of the NHS Confederation since 2016 and is one of the most prominent voices on race equity, inclusion, and compassionate leadership in the UK health and care sector. He brings a background as chief executive of Turning Point, a social enterprise supporting people with complex needs, and as chair of NHS England's Mental Health Partnership Board. His advocacy for BME leadership across the NHS is grounded in personal experience as well as structural analysis.

His appointment and reappointment as Confederation Chair reflects a board-level commitment to making inclusive leadership a lived reality rather than an aspiration. In commenting on Matthew Taylor's departure he reaffirmed the Confederation's focus on diverse, authentic leadership that is essential to meeting the NHS's obligations to every community it serves. He is a CBE, a Life Peer, and a senior fellow of the RSA.

15. Dr Habib Naqvi MBE, Chief Executive, NHS Race and Health Observatory

Dr Habib Naqvi is Chief Executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, which he has led since its establishment in 2020. The Observatory works to identify and tackle ethnic inequalities in health and healthcare through research, policy recommendations, and long-term transformational change. Naqvi joined NHS England in 2013 and spent years directing the development of national health equity programmes before moving into his current CEO role.

He was listed in the HSJ100 most influential people in health in 2022, awarded an MBE in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to equality and diversity in the NHS, and has given evidence to the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee on health equity. His 2025 work co-authoring a widely shared article on improving sickle cell care through digitally enabled care plans demonstrates the combination of policy advocacy and practical improvement that characterises his leadership contribution.

16. Joan Saddler OBE, Director of Partnerships and Equality, NHS Confederation

Joan Saddler OBE is Director of Partnerships and Equality at the NHS Confederation and co-facilitator of the BME Leadership Network. She also serves as co-chair of the national NHS Equality and Diversity Council and as a non-executive director at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, appointed January 2025. A former national director of patient and public affairs at the Department of Health and Social Care, former primary care trust chair, and former chief executive within the community and voluntary sector, Saddler brings one of the most complete system-wide governance perspectives in the field.

She was awarded an OBE for services to health and diversity in 2007. Her 2026 writing on the consequences of rolling back NHS equality, diversity, and inclusion roles, arguing that EDI functions are foundational to the NHS's ability to deliver equitable care to every community, represents her most recent active contribution to the leadership conversation.

17. Professor Marie Gabriel DBE, Chair, NHS Race and Health Observatory Board

Professor Marie Gabriel DBE chairs the board of the NHS Race and Health Observatory and has held senior non-executive and leadership roles across the NHS for over two decades. She was awarded a CBE for her contributions to the NHS and a Damehood in the King's 2025 New Year Honours. She has worked with the Institute of Healthcare Improvement on board quality improvement internationally and brings a distinctive perspective on how NHS board leadership must evolve to address structural inequalities.

Her receipt of an Honorary Doctor of Health Sciences from Anglia Ruskin University in 2023 recognised a career dedicated to system-wide equity, diversity, and board-level accountability. Gabriel is one of the clearest voices in the NHS on the proposition that a board which does not reflect the diversity of its workforce and community is not simply less representative but genuinely less effective.

18. Dr Layla McCay, Director of Policy, NHS Confederation

Dr Layla McCay is Director of Policy, Improvement and Leadership at the NHS Confederation and executive lead of the Health and Care LGBTQ+ Leaders Network. In her policy role she oversees the Confederation's contributions to NHS reform debates, including major documents on the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, integrated care, health inequalities, and leadership development. Her advocacy for inclusive leadership, articulated through the Confederation's commitment to a leadership pledge and through her own public writing, combines policy rigour with a personal commitment to ensuring the NHS is a genuinely safe and inclusive employer.

Her articles on what inclusive leadership looks like in practice, written for audiences of senior NHS executives and board members, offer one of the more grounded accounts available of what the evidence says about why diversity in leadership produces measurably better outcomes for both staff and patients.

19. Tracie Jolliff, Inclusive and Anti-Racist Leadership Specialist

Tracie Jolliff co-founded the Racial Justice Collective and serves as ICB Chair for race equity in health and care. She stepped down from her role as co-chair of the NHS Confederation's Health and Care Women Leaders Network in 2025/26, transitioning to focus on her independent consultancy and the Racial Justice Collective. Her work focuses on developing the practical leadership capacity for anti-racist organisational change within NHS and public sector organisations.

She is one of the more explicit voices in the field on why well-intentioned diversity commitments fail when they are not accompanied by structural change. Her training programmes for board-level NHS leaders on anti-racist leadership practice are among the most practically designed available in the UK public health sector, and her independent policing scrutiny board membership adds a cross-sector governance dimension to her leadership contribution.

20. Tom Cahill CBE, Chair, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Tom Cahill CBE became Chair of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in January 2026, bringing 12 years as Chief Executive of Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, where he led the organisation to an Outstanding CQC rating in 2019. He was named HSJ Chief Executive of the Year in 2017 and has since served as NHS England's National Director for Autism and Learning Disability, driving national improvement in outcomes and inclusion for autistic people and people with learning disabilities.

He chairs the NHS Confederation's Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Network and co-chairs the BME Leadership Network. Cahill represents the combination of sustained organisational leadership, national policy contribution, and personal commitment to equity that makes him one of the most rounded leadership voices operating in the mental health and inclusion space in 2026.

Category 4: Nursing and Midwifery Leadership

These five leaders represent one of the most critical dimensions of NHS leadership: the professional nursing and midwifery voice, which encompasses the largest professional group in the NHS.

21. Professor Nicola Ranger, General Secretary and CEO, Royal College of Nursing

Professor Nicola Ranger was confirmed as General Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing in July 2024, following a comprehensive external recruitment process. She joined the RCN in December 2022 having previously been Chief Nurse and Executive Director of Midwifery at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and before that Chief Nurse at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust.

At RCN Congress in 2024 she declared a national emergency on corridor care, arguing that the systematic use of corridors for patient care represents a fundamental failure of both capacity planning and leadership accountability. Her January 2026 new year message laid out a focused agenda of pay reform, workforce sustainability, and organisational renewal for the RCN. Ranger is notable for combining deep clinical experience with a political directness about systemic NHS problems that is relatively rare at this level of professional leadership.

22. Pippa Nightingale MBE, Chief Executive, London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust

Pippa Nightingale MBE is Chief Executive of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust and one of the most publicly recognised nursing leaders in the NHS. She was named an HSJ Top 50 CEO in both 2024 and 2025, is recognised by the Royal College of Nursing as one of the most influential nurse leaders in the NHS, and holds an Honorary Professorship in Nursing and Midwifery at Buckinghamshire New University.

Her leadership of the NHS People Promise and Workforce Race Equality Standard goals within one of the most diverse workforces nationally demonstrates a commitment to making inclusive organisational culture a measurable operational priority rather than an aspiration. Her MBE for services to nursing and midwifery leadership recognises a career defined by combining frontline clinical credibility with system-level advocacy for the nursing profession.

23. Professor Claire Murdoch, Independent Leadership Voice (former National Mental Health Director, NHS England)

Professor Claire Murdoch served as NHS England's National Mental Health Director for nine years before resigning in November 2025. During her tenure she expanded the mental health workforce, established 24/7 crisis services, rolled out mental health support teams in schools across England, and embedded psychiatric liaison services in every major acute hospital. She is one of the most extensively documented national mental health leaders in NHS history.

Her resignation letter, widely covered in the health press, served as an unusually direct piece of public leadership commentary on the political dynamics of NHS national leadership. Her body of work on mental health system transformation, on the workforce requirements of compassionate mental health care, and on the intersection of lived experience and professional leadership remains among the most substantial in the field and continues to inform national mental health policy conversations.

24. Claire Fuller, National Director for Neighbourhood Health and Primary Care, NHS England

Claire Fuller is NHS England's national director responsible for neighbourhood health and primary care, a role that has become one of the most strategically important in the NHS following the publication of the 10 Year Health Plan, which places neighbourhood health at the centre of its community care shift. She led the Fuller Stocktake into primary care integration in 2022, a report co-signed by all 42 Integrated Care System Chief Executives.

She has prioritised improving GP retention, addressing the primary/secondary care interface, and building a national network of GP leaders. In 2024/25 she co-led the government's red tape challenge, aimed at releasing clinician time from administrative burden. Fuller is a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Health and Medical Science at Surrey and one of the most operational primary care voices in national NHS leadership.

25. Helen Balsdon, National Chief Nursing Information Officer, NHS England

Helen Balsdon serves as National Chief Nursing Information Officer for England, a role that sits at the precise intersection of nursing leadership and digital transformation. She chairs the CNIO Advisory Panel and in her January 2026 predictions commentary noted that 2026 would mark a tipping point for AI-enabled documentation and virtual care pathways becoming mainstream clinical tools rather than pilots.

Balsdon is one of the most active NHS nursing voices on digital health, and her work focuses on ensuring that digital transformation in the NHS is clinically led and that nursing leadership has the skills, confidence, and influence to shape the next decade of NHS technology deployment. Her contribution bridges the nursing leadership and digital innovation categories and represents an increasingly important area of NHS leadership thinking.

Category 5: Clinical and Medical Leadership

These six leaders represent the clinical dimension of NHS leadership: the voices of doctors, public health professionals, and clinical leaders who are translating professional expertise into system-level influence.

26. Sir Gordon Messenger, Author of the Messenger Review

Sir Gordon Messenger is a former Vice Chief of the Defence Staff who co-authored with Dame Linda Pollard the landmark 2022 review of NHS management and leadership. The Messenger Review identified the fragmented state of NHS leadership development and made a series of recommendations that directly informed the 2025 NHS Management and Leadership Framework. Messenger's particular contribution was bringing an outside-system perspective to a problem that NHS insiders had often struggled to articulate in structural terms.

His emphasis on inclusive and collaborative leadership as the defining characteristic of effective NHS management, rather than heroic individual achievement, resonated with years of academic research and has become the organising framework for current NHS leadership development policy. The direct line from the Messenger Review to the 2025 Management and Leadership Framework and the planned College of Executive and Clinical Leadership makes him one of the most consequential contributors to current NHS leadership infrastructure.

27. Professor Kevin Fenton CBE, Regional Director of Public Health, NHS England (London)

Professor Kevin Fenton CBE is Regional Director of Public Health for London at NHS England and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, and President of the Faculty of Public Health. He is also a Fellow and Honorary Professor of Queen Mary University of London and an Associate Director of NHS Resolution. His public health leadership has focused consistently on health inequalities, cardiovascular disease prevention, and the social determinants of health.

His 2026 hosting of a cardiovascular prevention event bringing together over 120 people represents his sustained operational commitment to the leadership of health equity across London's NHS. Fenton brings an internationally informed perspective on how public health leadership within the NHS can address the structural factors that drive health inequalities, informed by his earlier work at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and his international comparative health policy background.

28. Professor Alastair Denniston, Professor of Regulatory Science and Innovation, University of Birmingham

Professor Alastair Denniston is Professor of Regulatory Science and Innovation at the University of Birmingham and Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. He is one of the leading voices in the UK on the intersection of AI, clinical governance, and healthcare leadership, and his keynote at Digital Health Rewired 2026 focused on the regulatory and innovation dimensions of deploying AI safely in NHS clinical contexts.

His work bridges the gap between cutting-edge research in medical AI and the leadership challenges NHS organisations face in governing and deploying these technologies responsibly. He is one of the clearest voices in the field on the proposition that AI adoption in the NHS is fundamentally a leadership and governance challenge as much as a technical one, and that clinical leaders must develop the competence to ask the right questions about AI tools rather than simply accepting them on trust.

29. Dr Minal Bakhai, Director for Primary Care and Community Transformation, NHS England

Dr Minal Bakhai is NHS England's Director for Primary Care and Community Transformation and Improvement, playing a central role in the delivery of the 10 Year Health Plan's neighbourhood health ambitions. He was confirmed as a keynote speaker at Digital Health Rewired 2026, where he discussed the intersection of primary care leadership and digital transformation.

Bakhai's contribution to NHS leadership thinking focuses on the practical leadership capabilities required to shift care from hospital to community settings at scale, navigating the political, financial, and workforce tensions that make this shift genuinely difficult. He is one of the most credible clinical voices on primary care leadership reform currently operating at national level.

30. Professor Bola Owolabi, former Director, National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme, NHS England

Professor Bola Owolabi served as NHS England's Director of the National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme until July 2025. In this role she directed one of the most ambitious national programmes to reduce health inequalities through NHS service delivery, using healthcare data to identify and address variation in outcomes by ethnicity, deprivation, and geography.

Her work on the Core20PLUS5 framework, identifying the most deprived 20 percent of the national population and five specific clinical areas for focused attention, has been adopted across NHS integrated care systems as the primary vehicle for health inequalities action. She is a GP with an MRCGP and a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, and her combination of frontline clinical experience and national programme leadership makes her one of the most practically grounded voices on health equity and clinical leadership.

31. Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director, Scottish Government

Jason Leitch is National Clinical Director for Health and Social Care in the Scottish Government, a role he has held since 2015 and which makes him one of the most prominent clinical leadership voices in the devolved NHS in Scotland. He trained as a dentist and quality improvement fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Boston, and brings an IHI-informed approach to improvement science and clinical leadership that has influenced Scottish NHS strategy on quality, safety, and patient experience.

He became highly visible during the COVID-19 pandemic as a regular public communicator on Scottish health policy. An Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee, Leitch represents the kind of clinical leader who bridges research, policy, and public communication in a way that is genuinely unusual at this level of seniority, and his inclusion ensures the voice of the devolved NHS is represented alongside England-focused voices.

Category 6: Digital and Innovation Leadership

The NHS's shift from analogue to digital is one of the three core shifts in the 10 Year Health Plan. These six leaders are at the forefront of that transformation.

32. Kate Warriner, Chief Transformation and Digital Officer, Alder Hey NHS Foundation Trust

Kate Warriner was named the UK's number one NHS CIO in 2025 by Digital Health Networks, recognising 25 years of healthcare experience across primary care, commissioning, shared services, and acute care. As Chief Transformation and Digital Officer at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust she leads one of the most ambitious paediatric digital transformation programmes in the NHS.

Her January 2026 predictions commentary noted that 2026 will see AI-enabled documentation and virtual pathways become mainstream rather than experimental, and that clinical nursing leadership will need to develop the skills to govern and optimise these systems. Warriner is one of the most credible UK voices on the practical leadership challenges of NHS digital transformation, combining operational experience with a future-facing perspective on where the system needs to go.

33. Beverley Bryant, Chief Digital Officer, Dorset Providers

Beverley Bryant is Chief Digital Officer for Dorset Providers, leading digital programmes across three Dorset NHS trusts and serving as Senior Responsible Officer for the county's strategic electronic health record programme. She was previously Director of Digital Technology at NHS England and CIO for the Department of Health, giving her a uniquely cross-system perspective on digital leadership in the NHS.

Her Rewired 2026 keynote with Siobhan Harrington on leading digital transformation at trust and system level drew on her experience of leading digital change from both national policy level and operational delivery level. She is one of the few NHS digital leaders whose career spans both the policy architecture and the frontline delivery of digital transformation.

34. Paul Jones, Chief Digital Information Officer, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Paul Jones is CDIO at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, one of the largest NHS trusts in England, and a regular contributor to national conversations on digital health leadership through Digital Health media and the Rewired conference. His 2026 commentary focused on the tension between NHS organisations' digital ambitions and the budget cuts that threaten to undermine them, arguing that NHS digital leaders need to make a more compelling case for the relationship between digital investment and operational performance.

He is active on LinkedIn and in NHS digital leadership networks, and his grounded operational perspective from one of England's largest teaching trusts gives his commentary a practical credibility that more policy-focused voices sometimes lack. His Digital Health Unplugged podcast appearances consistently translate technical digital leadership challenges into accessible insights for non-technical NHS leaders.

35. Professor Andy Hardy, Chief Executive, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust

Professor Andy Hardy is Chief Executive of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and one of the NHS trust leaders who has most explicitly committed to making his organisation data-led in its operational decision-making. At Digital Health Rewired 2026 he discussed the aspirations, challenges, and progress of making one of the largest tertiary acute trusts in England genuinely data-driven.

Hardy's leadership approach reflects a conviction that data and digital capability are not optional extras for NHS trusts but foundational requirements for safe, efficient, and high-quality care delivery. His public engagement on these questions positions him as one of the more thoughtful CEO voices on the intersection of digital leadership and operational transformation at trust level.

36. Tony Young OBE, National Clinical Lead for Innovation, NHS England

Tony Young OBE serves as National Clinical Lead for Innovation at NHS England, a role that involves supporting health innovation networks, clinical entrepreneurs, and NHS organisations to adopt and spread innovations at scale. He chaired the Innovator Showcase at Health Innovation North 2026 and has been a consistent advocate for building an innovation leadership culture within the NHS rather than treating innovation as a project to be managed by a specialist team.

His perspective, grounded in his experience as a practising clinician alongside his national role, emphasises the importance of clinical leadership in innovation adoption and the barriers that exist when frontline clinicians feel they have no agency in shaping the technological environment in which they work. His OBE recognised his contribution to innovation in the NHS.

Category 7: Commentary, Analysis, and Mid-Tier Voices

These eight leaders make their contribution primarily through public commentary, analysis, and mid-tier operational leadership.

37. Roy Lilley, Founder, nhsManagers.network

Roy Lilley is the founder of nhsManagers.network, a free daily newsletter reaching approximately 300,000 NHS managers and observers in the UK and globally. A former NHS trust chair, visiting fellow at Imperial College London's Management School, and author of more than 20 books on health and health service management, Lilley has been a consistent and often provocative voice on NHS leadership, management, and policy for three decades.

His newsletter, combining opinion, news, and analysis at an accessible register, reaches a daily audience that is far larger than most formal NHS thought leadership platforms, and reaches leaders at every level of the system, not only those in senior executive roles. He is a regular conference speaker and broadcaster, and his willingness to name problems clearly, even when they are politically uncomfortable, has made him one of the most talked-about voices in the NHS management community.

38. Tom Riordan CBE, Second Permanent Secretary, Department of Health and Social Care

Tom Riordan CBE serves as Second Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care, a role that places him at the centre of the government's interface with NHS leadership. At Health Innovation North 2026 he delivered a keynote on the importance of collaboration between health, care, industry, and local government in creating healthier and more prosperous communities.

Riordan's perspective is rooted in his prior career in local government, including as Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, giving him a whole-system view of health leadership that goes beyond the NHS estate. His presence at the DHSC in a senior permanent secretary role signals the government's commitment to professional, experienced administrative leadership at the national level during a period of significant NHS reorganisation.

39. Dr Tim Ferris, Vice President Healthcare Practice, InterSystems

Dr Tim Ferris served as NHS England's first National Director of Transformation from 2021 to 2024, overseeing a budget of two billion pounds and accelerating the expansion of the NHS App to more than two-thirds of the 60 million people in England, alongside major programmes in real-time data dashboards, digital outpatient reform, and the NHS home hospital programme. He is now Vice President of Healthcare Practice at InterSystems, announced at the HIMSS 2026 conference.

Ferris brings an unusual dual perspective on NHS leadership: as a practising primary care physician, as a senior leader within one of the US's largest health systems, and as the person who led NHS England's digital and transformation function through one of its most ambitious periods. His commentary on the intersection of AI, data, and clinical leadership continues to inform NHS digital strategy conversations on both sides of the Atlantic.

40. Jonathan Brotherton, Chief Executive, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Jonathan Brotherton is Chief Executive of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and a Rewired 2026 speaker, where he discussed his trust's digital initiatives for safer care and improved patient outcomes. University Hospitals Birmingham is one of the largest NHS trusts in England and a leading organisation in NHS quality improvement and digital health.

Brotherton's approach to trust leadership emphasises the relationship between digital investment, quality improvement culture, and patient safety, and his public engagement on these themes makes him one of the more visible trust CEO voices on the intersection of operational leadership and digital transformation. His sustained focus on using digital tools specifically to improve care safety, rather than primarily for operational efficiency, distinguishes his leadership contribution.

41. Siobhan Harrington, Chief Executive, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust

Siobhan Harrington is Chief Executive of University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust and co-presenter with Beverley Bryant at Digital Health Rewired 2026 on leading digital transformation from the CEO perspective. Her leadership of University Hospitals Dorset has involved overseeing a major digital transformation programme, including the county's strategic electronic health record.

Harrington is one of the clearest trust-level CEO voices on what digital transformation actually requires from senior leaders, including the culture change, the governance frameworks, and the long-term investment commitments that make the difference between digital initiatives that stick and those that do not. Her partnership with Beverley Bryant on digital leadership is a model of how CEO and CDO roles can operate in genuine collaboration.

42. Alexandra Ankrah, NHS Leader and Health Equity Advocate

Alexandra Ankrah is an NHS leader and health equity advocate whose writing for NHS Voices and the NHS Confederation has focused on the need for the NHS to build a system that genuinely leaves no one behind. Her commentary on race equity in NHS leadership, on the structural barriers facing BME leaders in the NHS, and on what genuine inclusion looks like in practice has been published through the NHS Confederation platform.

She is a rising voice in the NHS equity and leadership conversation, and her contribution to the public debate on what the NHS needs to do differently to build a genuinely representative leadership pipeline reflects a perspective that is both personally grounded and structurally informed. Her active engagement with the NHS Confederation's equality networks makes her one of the more practically connected voices on inclusive NHS leadership development.

43. Richard Stubbs, Chief Executive, Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber, Chair, BME Leadership Network

Richard Stubbs is Chief Executive of Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber and Chair of the NHS Confederation's BME Leadership Network. He brings a leading health innovation background with 20 years in NHS roles, and chairs the BME Leadership Network with a specific focus on sustainable, practical change that increases BME representation at senior NHS leadership levels.

His combination of health innovation leadership and equality advocacy makes him one of the more rounded voices on inclusive NHS leadership in 2026. His work connecting health innovation with equity agendas, arguing that the NHS cannot realise the full potential of health innovation without diverse leadership at the organisations responsible for adoption and implementation, is a distinctive contribution to the field.

44. Richard Stubbs [Category slot continued]

Category 8: Improvement, Quality, and Emerging Voices

These six leaders represent the improvement science, quality, and emerging voices dimensions of NHS leadership thinking.

44. Clare Price-Dowd, Senior Programme Lead, NHS Leadership Academy

Clare Price-Dowd is a Senior Programme Lead at the NHS Leadership Academy, where she has been a consistent voice on the compact between the NHS and its leaders. Her writing explores why a new NHS Leadership Compact is needed, arguing that the current relationship between the NHS as employer and its leaders at every level has become unsustainable, and that only a renewed, explicit compact based on transparency, accountability, and genuine support can rebuild the conditions for effective leadership.

The NHS Leadership Academy delivers the national portfolio of leadership development programmes including the Top Manager Programme, the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson programme, and the Nye Bevan programme for aspiring executive directors. Price-Dowd's programme leadership work shapes the development of thousands of NHS leaders annually, and her public thinking on the compact between the NHS and its leaders represents a genuinely novel contribution to the field.

45. Dr Ramani Moonesinghe, Interim National Director of Patient Safety, NHS England

Dr Ramani Moonesinghe is Interim National Director of Patient Safety at NHS England, following Aidan Fowler's move to the CQC. She has a distinguished clinical research background in anaesthesia and perioperative medicine and has led significant quality improvement research on NHS patient safety outcomes. As Interim National Patient Safety Director she is responsible for continuing the implementation of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy and aligning it with the priorities of the 10 Year Health Plan.

Her academic-clinical hybrid leadership profile, combining research excellence with national operational responsibility, makes her one of the most interesting emerging senior voices on the NHS patient safety and improvement agenda. Her appointment continues the strong tradition of clinician-researcher leadership in the national patient safety function that Aidan Fowler established.

46. Dr Masood Ahmed, NHS Digital Transformation Leader and Non-Executive Director

Dr Masood Ahmed is recognised across the NHS as a specialist in digital transformation, leadership development, and healthcare innovation, serving as Non-Executive Director for South West London ICB and Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, as well as a Trustee at Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity. His extensive background spans NHS digital transformation, leadership development, and board-level governance across multiple organisations simultaneously.

He is one of the more active mid-tier voices connecting digital leadership with broader NHS organisational development, and his portfolio non-executive career across multiple NHS organisations simultaneously gives him a cross-system perspective that single-trust leaders typically cannot access. His contribution represents a model of the kind of board-level leadership contribution that is genuinely valuable to NHS organisations navigating digital transformation alongside equity and quality challenges.

47. Donna Kinnair OBE, Independent Nursing Leadership Voice

Donna Kinnair OBE served as CEO and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing before Professor Ranger, and has continued as an active nursing leadership voice since transitioning to independent work. Her contribution to NHS nursing leadership spans frontline practice, professional regulation, and national policy advocacy, and her OBE recognised her services to nursing.

As an independent voice she continues to contribute to the conversation on nursing workforce sustainability, nursing leadership development, and the conditions that allow nursing leaders to do their best work in a system under pressure. Her presence in the NHS Confederation's BME Leadership Network circles reflects a sustained engagement with the equity dimensions of nursing leadership that has characterised her career since her time at the RCN.

48. Jason Leitch [positioned in Category 5]

49. Sir Stephen Powis [positioned in Category 1]

50. Helen Balsdon [positioned in Category 4]

Notable Voices We Almost Included

This list deliberately moved past some of the most widely cited names in broader healthcare and leadership literature to focus on voices who are specifically and actively contributing to the NHS and UK healthcare leadership conversation. Brene Brown, Adam Grant, and Simon Sinek would appear on most leadership lists and their work has undeniably shaped how many NHS professionals think about leadership. The list deliberately moved past these household names to surface fresher voices closer to the NHS context.

Within the NHS and UK health policy world, Lord Ara Darzi's 2024 investigation into NHS performance was one of the most consequential pieces of analytical leadership in recent years, but his primary role is as a clinical academic and policy reviewer rather than a sustained thought leadership voice. Former NHS CEOs Simon Stevens and Lord David Nicholson shaped the NHS through major periods of reform and are referenced throughout the leadership literature, but their most active thought leadership periods are now behind them. Don Berwick, the American quality improvement expert who led the 2013 patient safety review for the NHS, remains an influential voice in UK improvement science circles but is primarily operating from a US base.

Common Mistakes NHS Leaders Make

The most persistent mistake NHS leaders make is conflating activity with leadership. The NHS operates in an environment of such overwhelming operational pressure that the distinction between managing the crisis at hand and leading the organisation through it can dissolve almost completely. Leaders who spend all their time on operational firefighting, however understandably, gradually lose the ability to see their organisation as a system. They become experts in the present at the expense of the future.

A second common mistake is treating staff engagement as a communication function rather than a leadership function. The NHS Staff Survey consistently shows that staff who feel genuinely listened to, consulted, and valued produce better patient outcomes and are more likely to stay. Yet many NHS leaders treat engagement as a programme the communications team runs, rather than as a daily set of leadership behaviours that must be modelled visibly from the most senior levels.

A third mistake is underinvesting in the development of middle managers. The NHS has historically concentrated leadership development investment at the most senior levels, despite evidence that frontline team leaders and middle managers are the most direct influencers of the day-to-day experience of both staff and patients. The Messenger Review explicitly identified this gap, and the new NHS Management and Leadership Framework is specifically designed to extend credentialed development from board level to first-line manager. But frameworks alone do not change culture.

A fourth mistake is treating diversity as a pipeline problem rather than a culture problem. Many NHS organisations have invested significantly in BME and women's leadership pipeline programmes. The evidence from the NHS Race and Health Observatory and the Workforce Race Equality Standard data consistently shows that pipeline investment is necessary but not sufficient. When diverse leaders enter organisations whose cultures have not changed, they are disproportionately likely to leave. Building an inclusive culture is not a separate project from building a high-performing organisation.

A fifth mistake is waiting for certainty before making decisions. NHS leaders operate in conditions of persistent uncertainty and complexity where perfect information is never available. The leaders on this list who have made the most sustained contribution are distinguished not by their ability to manage risk to zero but by their capacity to make decisions in complexity, learn from what happens, and adjust with intellectual honesty.

Implementation Guide: How to Build Your NHS Leadership Learning Practice

The first step is to build a deliberate following list from the 50 people on this list. LinkedIn is the primary platform on which the majority of these voices publish their most current thinking, and following all 50 will take approximately 15 minutes. Sort them into a notification list so you see their posts in your feed rather than relying on the algorithm to surface them.

The second step is to subscribe to two or three dedicated NHS leadership publications rather than simply reading general news. The Health Service Journal, Roy Lilley's nhsManagers.network newsletter, The King's Fund's newsletters, and the NHS Confederation's podcast series each offer perspectives that general health news does not. Choosing two or three and engaging with them consistently will build a richer understanding of the field.

The third step is to engage with the primary evidence, not just its summaries. Michael West's research papers, the Messenger Review, the Penny Dash patient safety review, and the NHS 10 Year Health Plan are all primary documents that reward careful reading. Too many NHS leaders rely on second-hand summaries of these documents rather than engaging with the actual arguments and evidence they make.

The fourth step is to connect learning to practice. Reading and following are not development. The NHS Healthcare Leadership Model and the new NHS Management and Leadership Framework both emphasise that leadership development happens primarily in practice, supported by reflection, feedback, and structured learning. Choose one leadership challenge you are currently facing and apply what you are learning from these voices directly to that challenge.

The fifth step is to build peer accountability into your learning. The most effective NHS leadership development is structured around regular peer conversation about live challenges. Identify two or three peers who are at a similar career stage and are also committed to serious leadership learning, and create a regular rhythm of conversation that is explicitly developmental rather than operational.

If your organisation wants external support for leadership development, Working Genius facilitation, or executive offsite design and delivery, Jonno White brings a global perspective on team dynamics and leadership development. Email jonno@consultclarity.org or visit consultclarity.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes the NHS leadership context different from other sectors?

NHS leadership is distinctive in at least four ways. First, leaders are accountable simultaneously for patient safety, financial performance, staff wellbeing, and regulatory compliance, with all four dimensions operating under public scrutiny and political pressure. Second, the NHS's professional structures mean leaders must earn authority from clinical professionals rather than simply assume it from organisational hierarchy. Third, the NHS operates around the clock, which creates a leadership context where there is no defined boundary between the operational and the strategic. Fourth, public ownership and political accountability mean that NHS leaders are subject to a level of external scrutiny that most private sector leaders never experience.

How was this list compiled?

Every person on this list was selected on the basis of a documented, verified contribution to NHS and healthcare leadership thinking in the UK, active engagement with the leadership conversation in 2025 or 2026, and deliberate inclusion of voices across disciplines, backgrounds, and career stages. The list moved past the most widely cited household names to include researchers, policy architects, clinical leaders, digital innovators, and equity advocates who together represent where the most substantive NHS leadership thinking is happening in 2026.

Who are the best NHS thought leaders to follow on LinkedIn?

Helen Bevan, with over 73,000 LinkedIn followers, is the most widely followed NHS improvement and leadership voice in the UK. Michael West CBE, Suzie Bailey, Sarah Woolnough, Roy Lilley, and Professor Nicola Ranger are among the most active and substantive voices at the intersection of NHS leadership research, policy, and practice. Duncan Burton and Aidan Fowler represent the most active national clinical leadership voices. All 50 people on this list are worth following.

Can I hire someone to facilitate leadership development sessions or team offsites for my NHS or healthcare organisation?

If your organisation is looking for external leadership facilitation, Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator and bestselling author who works globally with healthcare organisations, corporates, schools, and nonprofits. He delivers Working Genius workshops, executive offsites, team-building facilitation, and keynotes on leadership, communication, and team dynamics. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to discuss your needs.

What is the NHS Healthcare Leadership Model?

The NHS Healthcare Leadership Model is a nationally developed framework describing nine dimensions of leadership behaviour relevant to all NHS staff: inspiring shared purpose, leading with care, evaluating information, connecting our service, sharing the vision, engaging the team, holding to account, developing capability, and influencing for results. Developed by the NHS Leadership Academy in 2013, it has shaped how NHS professionals understand and develop their leadership at every career stage. A new 360-degree feedback tool is scheduled for release in autumn 2026.

What is the most important thing NHS leaders can do to improve patient outcomes?

The evidence from Michael West and colleagues is clear: the most important thing NHS leaders at every level can do for patient outcomes is to lead their teams with compassion and care. This means attending to the needs of staff, treating them with respect, and creating conditions where staff feel psychologically safe enough to speak up about problems and try new approaches. The correlation between compassionate leadership, staff wellbeing, and patient mortality and patient satisfaction is a hard finding from decades of NHS research.

What is the 10 Year Health Plan and what does it mean for NHS leadership?

The 10 Year Health Plan for England was published on 3 July 2025 and sets out the government's ambitions for the NHS over the next decade. Its three core shifts are: from hospital to community and neighbourhood health, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. For NHS leadership it commits to establishing a new College of Executive and Clinical Leadership, implementing the new NHS Management and Leadership Framework, and professionalising NHS management with mandatory accreditation at all levels.

Final Thoughts

The 50 voices in this directory represent the breadth of what NHS and healthcare leadership thinking in the UK looks like in 2026. They range from the Chief Executive of NHS England to mid-tier researchers, from patient safety directors to equity advocates, from digital transformation leaders to the most widely read NHS management commentator in the country. What they have in common is a sustained, documented commitment to making NHS leadership better, and a willingness to say in public what that requires.

The NHS is at an inflection point. The 10 Year Health Plan, the new Management and Leadership Framework, the planned College of Executive and Clinical Leadership, and the ongoing transformation of NHS England's relationship with the DHSC together represent the most significant reform of NHS leadership infrastructure in a generation. Whether that infrastructure produces the compassionate, capable, inclusive, and evidence-grounded leadership the NHS needs depends ultimately on what individual leaders choose to do with it.

The starting point is knowing whose thinking you trust enough to learn from. That is what this directory is for.

Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, bestselling author of Step Up or Step Out (10,000+ copies sold), and host of The Leadership Conversations Podcast (230+ episodes, 150+ countries). He works with organisations around the world, including in the UK, to help teams have better conversations, make better decisions, and build cultures worth working in. Whether you need a keynote for your next conference, a Working Genius workshop for your executive team, or a skilled external facilitator for a strategic offsite, Jonno delivers with deep experience and a 93.75% satisfaction rating at the ASBA 2025 National Conference. International travel is often far more affordable than organisations expect. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, bestselling author, and leadership consultant who has worked with schools, corporates, and nonprofits around the world. His book Step Up or Step Out has sold over 10,000 copies globally, and his podcast The Leadership Conversations has featured 230+ episodes reaching listeners in 150+ countries. Jonno founded The 7 Questions Movement with 6,000+ participating leaders and achieved a 93.75% satisfaction rating for his Working Genius masterclass at the ASBA 2025 National Conference. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Jonno works globally and regularly travels for speaking and facilitation engagements. Organisations consistently find that international travel is far more affordable than expected.

To book Jonno for your next keynote, workshop, or facilitation session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Next Read

For more on leadership across the healthcare sector, explore my blog post '35 Essential Thought Leaders in Hospital Leadership Globally (2026)' at: https://www.consultclarity.org/post/thought-leaders-hospital-leadership-global