Non-Executive Team
Dr Raj Kumar
National Chair
Dr Raj Kumar is the National Chair of the NHS Clinical Leaders Network . He is the author of the original paper and co-founded and led the NHS Clinical Leaders Network since its inception and national launch as a Department of Health initiative in 2006.
Besides continuing to practice as a front-line General Practitioner, he also works as a Primary Care Medical/ Transformation Director heading up an innovative group of Primary Care/ Community based services across the North of England. His strong belief in the integrated Health and Social care model has seen him contribute as a member to the Cheshire and Merseycare Health and Care Partnership Board since its inception. In addition, his passion for clinically led IT innovation and transformation has had him hold a long standing part time national leadership role that transitioned over 2 decades through the Dept of Health, National Programme for IT, NHS Digital and now NHS England as Deputy Chief Medical Information Officer.
Dr Kumar is the recipient of multiple professional awards during the course of his 30 years career in the NHS. These were awards for Primary Care, IT innovation, transformation and supporting diversity leadership for clinicians. He was also named as one of the country’s “Top 50 NHS BAME pioneers”, by the HSJ for his lifetime contribution to supporting transformation, innovation and diversity leadership across the NHS.
Dr Kumar continues to remain passionate about the value of frontline clinicians and care professionals leading the transformation agenda, both at the centre and at the frontline. He is therefore very keen on ensuring that the NHS Clinical Leaders Network is modelled to support, prepare and empower frontline clinicians in being able to work effectively with leadership from across care professionals and senior managers in taking up leadership roles nationally, regionally and locally within their own organisations.
Professor Jane Cummings CBE RN
National Vice Chair, Non-Executive Director: Nursing & Midwifery
Jane is a Non-executive Director in NHS Gloucestershire responsible for System Quality and has extensive executive and clinical experience in the NHS and also worked for the Department of Health and Social Care in the Adult Social Care team.
She was Chief Nursing Officer for England for almost 7 years prior to her retirement in January 2019, in addition to being the national director sponsor for learning disabilities, equality, diversity, patient engagement, experience and the regional director for London for 15 months. Jane has honorary doctorates from Edge Hill, New Bucks and Bradford Universities and is a visiting professor at Kingston and St George’s Universities. Jane is Chair of the RCN Foundation and a trustee of Macmillan Cancer Support and COVID-19 Healthcare Support Appeal charities.
David Davis
Non Executive Director: Allied Health Professionals
David is a Clinical Director in NHS Sussex and a frontline paramedic with the South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. He is an experienced clinician with record of successful delivery of innovation, change and development across a number of national programmes and initiatives as well as regional service transformation. Expertise around Integrated Urgent Care, telephone triage, clinical informatics, acute care pathways, stroke care and mental health. Strengths around clinical leadership, networking, developing consensus, political engagement and collaborative working where patient care is a priority.
David is a trustee of Thames Valley Air Ambulance and a Fellow of the College of Paramedics and a founding Fellow of the Faculty of Clinical Informatics. He has previously worked as an AHP informatics national clinical lead within NHS England, the Department of Health and Health & Social Care Information Centre.
Dr Andy Knox MBE
Non Executive Director: Medical – Primary Care
Andy Knox is a husband, a dad and a friend. He is also Associate Medical Director in the Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB and a GP Partner at Ash Trees Surgery, Carnforth. His work is primarily focused on improving Population Health and tackling Health Inequalities. He co-founded the LSC Population Health Equity Leadership Academy, is Population Health Associate at the King’s Fund, a member of the NHS Assembly, part of the Poverty Truth Commission, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Health at Lancaster University and will soon be publishing his first book, ‘Sick Society’. In 2023 he was awarded an MBE for services to General Practice. He is impressively tall when sat down and has a ridiculously loud laugh. He is often found singing on walks with his Springer Spaniel around the beauty that is Morecambe Bay.
Twitter: @drandyknox
Blog: reimagininghealth.com
Rob Webster CBE
Non Executive Director: Integrated Care Board CEO
Rob is Chief Executive of NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board. He is also Lead Chief Executive for the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, an integrated care system that he has led since 2016. This sees him bringing together West Yorkshire health and care leaders, organisations, and communities to deliver ambitious plans for improved health, care, and finances for 2.4 million people. In 2022, the HSJ awarded the Partnership the award for ICS of the Year for the second year running. Rob was also Chief Executive of South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust between 2016 and 2021.
Rob has worked in healthcare since 1990, taking on national leadership roles in the Department of Health on policy, transformation, and delivery. He has been a director for both the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit in the Cabinet Office and a national public/private partnership. He was Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation between 2014 and 2016, having proven to be a successful Chief Executive in the NHS since 2007, running a number of commissioning organisations and providers of NHS services. Rob is an active member of the NHS Assembly and contributes to several national programmes and networks.
Rob is defined by a values-based approach to leadership. He has a history of effective partnership working and a strong commitment to system leadership.
He is a visiting Professor at Leeds Beckett University and was proud to be made a Fellow of the Queen’s Nursing Institute in 2014. In May 2016 Rob became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners. In 2020 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and was awarded the HSJ Chief Executive of the Year Award in 2021. He is a proud Honorary Graduand of the University of Bradford which bestowed an honorary doctorate in health for services during the pandemic.
You can follow Rob on Twitter @NHS_RobW
Dr Fiona Chatten
Non Executive Director: Nursing – Integrated Care & Primary Care
Fiona is Primary Care Development Lead for the North East and North Cumbria ICB, in North Cumbria Place and Honorary Fellow with Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. She is a Nurse, with Specialist Practice in District Nursing, and has maintained a strong sense of identity with nursing throughout her career. She has spent a number of years working in both clinical and academic research, as well as in workforce management and leadership across primary, community and wider system settings. She is passionate about the development of individuals and teams, and believes that with supportive leadership, we can all reach our potential. She has a PhD in professional identity in integration, which she uses to drive conversations, formal teaching sessions as well as policy and strategy development to strengthen professional groups within mixed-professional settings.
Fiona has a busy family life and loves escaping on walks in the Lake District with her husband and dogs.
Executive Team
Dr Andrew Coley
National Chief Clinical Officer
Dr Andrew Coley is a retired GP and the National Chief Clinical Officer and co-founder the NHS Clinical Leaders Network. He has has spent his career leading on regional and national transformation programmes, pursuing his passion of delivering improved population health through connectivity between clinicians and managers and maximising the benefits of technology.
Dr Coley has held a wide variety of roles throughout his career including Professional Executive Chair in East Cheshire, Chief Clinical Officer for Informatics for NHS North West, Clinical Director for Cheshire & Merseyside Strategic Clinical Networks and has held several National Clinical Lead roles.
Suzy Ning
National Operations Director
Suzy has over 20 years’ experience of working in the NHS across a wide range of provider, commissioner and arm’s length bodies and has supported the Clinical Leaders Network off and on since it was launched in 2006. Suzy’s career has focused on transformation, delivering change and empowering people (from the staff who deliver our services to the people who access them). Her roles have spanned across acute, mental health, commissioners and systems with strategic roles across regional and national programmes. She is a senior advisor to the Opening Doors Initiative in Cheshire and Merseyside which is an innovative programme working across housing, health and care. Suzy is a trustee for the Brighter Living Partnership, a local charity supporting the community improve their health and wellbeing.
National Team
Dawn Black
National Operations Manager, Board Secretary
Dawn has 22 years management experience working in the private sector and brings her expertise to the NHS CLN managing the national central team. She has an MBA in Business Management and brings her strong financial and operational management business acumen to the central team. She coordinates all the NHS CLN operational activities and is the NHS CLN Board Secretary.