MD representing £18bn turnover teaching trusts steps down
The managing director of the Shelford Group, representing 10 of England’s biggest trusts – with a combined £18bn turnover – is to step down after three years in the role.
William Warburton will leave the collaboration between 10 large teaching and research centre trusts at the end of the year for a new role in the NHS, which has not yet been announced.
Mr Warburton joined the Shelford Group in January 2022, having previously worked as the Health Foundation’s director of improvement.
He was also previously a senior policy fellow at the Centre for Health Policy in the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London.
The Shelford Group was formed in 2011 and initially took a robust approach to lobbying for its members, but in more recent years sought a more collaborative tone, and has coordinated development projects across the 10. It initially resisted NHS England’s attempts to delegate specialised commissioning, which makes up a large proportion of members’ income, to integrated care boards; but this is now being rolled out nationally from next April.
Shelford Group chair and CEO of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust Kirsten Major thanked Mr Warburton for his “enormously valuable” contribution to the group and said: ”We wish him all the best for the future, and look forward to continuing to work productively with him in his new role.”
A job advert has been published for a replacement, saying the group is seeking an individual with an “established profile” who is a “highly respected” leader within the NHS and wider healthcare sector or a related area of government.
The ideal candidate will bring a track record of working and “influencing” at a senior level within the NHS, Department of Health and Social Care, Treasury and broader healthcare system.
Working in collaboration with member chief executives and chairs will be among the successful candidate’s key responsibilities.
In addition to Sheffield, the Shelford members are: the university hospital trusts in Birmingham, Cambridge, Manchester, Newcastle and Oxford; along with Imperial, King’s, Guy’s and St Thomas’ and University College Hospitals in London.