Regional directors chosen

The Department of Health has appointed four
regional directors for health and social care.

The four were chosen from the existing eight
NHS regional directors. The new appointees are Peter Garland, who
will be director of North region, David Nicholson, who will cover
the Midlands, John Bacon who will be responsible for London and
Ruth Carnall who will cover the South.

NHS chief executive Nigel Crisp said: “This is
a start of a major programme of change in the NHS designed to
empower front-line staff and organisations. The regional directors
of health and social care will become fully part of the department
nationally while having some regional responsibility for overseeing
the development of health and social care.”