NHSE director to leave next month

NHS England’s director for clinical integration has announced she is leaving the national commissioner in December.

Nikki Kanani, a GP, has said she will be leaving after six years having filled several roles at the organisation.

Dr Kanani joined NHS England as national primary care medical director in 2018. She led on the development and implementation of primary care networks and the contracts underpinning them. 

During the pandemic, she became deputy senior responsible officer for vaccination and screening – and has remained deputy lead for the covid-19 vaccination programme.

An NHSE statement marking her departure credited her with playing “an instrumental role in offering vaccinations in a way that we have never done before in order to reach communities, including offering them on buses, at sport stadiums and places of worship”.

In July last year, she took up the post of director of national clinical integration in the chief delivery office. There she helped in the development of a new “integrated clinical model”.

On leaving NHSE, Dr Kanani said: “Working with so many dedicated colleagues over the last six years has been a massive privilege and I will really miss working at NHS England.

“From improving access for patients to saving thousands of lives through vaccination, I am incredibly proud of everything we have achieved together.”

She has continued to work as a GP in south London, a role she will continue after leaving NHSE.